Brewing Crafts
Brewing Crafts
Kiwi Ferns RLWC final preview, Abby Erceg & the Football Ferns, Leigh Kasperek & Kate Ebrahim, Plunket Shield & Ford Trophy, Women's National League Team of the Week & more
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Football Ferns vs South Korea: Back Home, Still Building (Football)
Kiwi-NRL Junior Siua Wong's Crazy Year Of Footy (Rugby League)
2022 Men’s National League – Week 7 Review (Football)
2022 Women’s National League – Week 9 Review (Football)
The Wellington Phoenix Are Ready To Roll For Season Two in the ALW (Football)
2022/23 HBJ Shield: 10 Intriguing Wahine (Cricket)
2022 Kiwi-WBBL: Setting The Table (Cricket)
Scotty’s Word
Here are three things about Kiwi Ferns that I'm pondering for their RLWC final vs Australia preview that will be published Saturday morning...
1) Passing
Everyone can pass and balancing powerful runs with passing helps create space. Georgia Hale is the best lock in the world thanks to her passing and she had 17 passes vs England, while Amber Hall had 5 passes. Hale's passing shifts the footy to edges, Hall balances her steam-rolling runs with passing. Rugby union skills help the likes of Mele Hufagna and Page McGregor throw 10m spirals as centres.
2) Kick Returns
Apii Nicholls's speed and power from fullback ensures that Kiwi Ferns start their sets with momentum. England couldn't find open pasture with their kicking game and Nicholls constantly burst forward to catch kicks. Hufanga also dropped back to receive kicks against England and this is likely to happen against Australia as well.
3) Middle Oomph
Kiwi Ferns forwards are equally as fabulous as Kiwis forwards. Securing Brianna Clark (from Australia) has boosted the middle forward ranks and she has formed a strong starting combo with Annetta Nu'uausala, then Mya Hill-Moana comes off the bench. Chuck Hale into the mix and this may be the best middle forward rotation in the world. Amber Hall genuinely steam-rolls multiple opponents every game on the right edge and Roxette Murdoch-Masila starts on the left edge before swapping with Otesa Pule - who is the biggest Kiwi Ferns forward.
This yarn lays out 10 intriguing wahine cricketers ahead of this weekend's HBJ Shield action. Leigh Kasperek and Kate Ebrahim are intriguing as well, but they are a bit older and I don't want to keep moaning about their non-selections for White Ferns. Kasperek and Ebrahim are domestic cricket monsters who I will be tracking closely, so here are some basics about their excellence...
Leigh Kasperek last summer…
HBJ Shield: 6th - 10w @ 19.2avg/4.5rpo
Super Smash: 1st - 20w @ 9.35avg/4.98rpo
Kasperek is fourth for White Ferns T20I wickets since start of 2020 and Kasperek has a better average than all three bowlers who have more wickets, while Devine is the only bowler with a better strike-rate. Kasperek is seventh for ODI wickets in this period. Kasperek has a better average and strike-rate than all six WF who have more ODI wickets.
Kate Ebrahim last summer…
HBJ Shield: 1st - 451 runs @ 75.16avg/68.75sr, 5 x 50 (7inns)
Super Smash: 17th - 153 runs @ 21.85avg/91sr
Ebrahim has averaged 60+ in her last three HBJ Shield seasons, averaging 40+ in the last five. Ebrahim averaged 40+ in three Super Smash campaigns prior to last summer's 21.85avg.
The first stanza of Plunket Shield cricket has finished, now preparing for Ford Trophy. Here is a nugget for each team...
Auckland
Rob O'Donnell vs Canterbury: 123 runs, 5w, 0 runs.
O'Donnell scored over half of his 203 runs this season in one knock and took 5 of his 6 wickets in one innings. O'Donnell scored 539 runs @ 67.37avg last season.
Northern Districts
Neil Wagner has eased himself into the summer. We are dealing with matua Wagner and 'eased' means bowling 140.1 overs, second only to Jacob Duffy's 149.1 overs.
Wagner's wicket hauls: 1w, 0w, 4w, 1w, 1w, 1w, 4w.
Wagner leads Northern for wickets with 12w @ 29.16avg/2.49rpo and is ranked 11th for Plunket Shield bowlers. Of the 10 bowlers ahead of Wagner, Matt Henry and Michael Snedden are the only lads with a lower economy rate than Wagner.
Central Districts
Last summer Will Young only played one Plunket Shield game. This summer we can check in with Young's flow from County Championship into Plunket Shield...
2021 County Championship: 7inns, 278 runs @ 39.71avg, 2 x 100
2022 County Championship: 18inns, 672 run @ 37.33avg, 1 x 100, 4 x 50
2022/23 Plunket Shield: 7inns, 250 runs @ 35.71avg, 1 x 100, 2 x 50
Solid. Other blokes score runs with higher averages, but Young is brewing opener's craft. Young pounced on an opportunity to be a Test opener and he is taking every opportunity to learn, in seaming conditions that can trouble any opener. Ponder Young's First-Class average of 40.25 after a large sample size of 110 games.
Wellington
Logan van Beek returned from Netherlands T20 World Cup duty with 11 wickets against Central, sealing a win with his 6w in the second innings. Van Beek scored 15 runs @ 65.21sr and took 3w @ 7.65rpo at the T20WC, which wasn't his best mahi but he has made a hearty return to PS.
(Tom Blundell has two centuries and two other 50+ scores in the first four games)
Canterbury
Henry Shipley was a point of intrigue in Canterbury's squad ahead of the season and after missing the first two games, Shipley has announced his arrival in the last two games. Shipley scored 82 runs against Otago and took 2w, before scoring 49 runs with 5w and 1w in a draw against Auckland this round. Shipley has scores of 61, 70, 82 and 49 in his last four PS games. Shipley's last 10 games feature all three domestic competitions and Shipley has wickets in 11 of his 12 innings bowled.
Otago
Quick summary of Otago's young batting quartet...
Jacob Cumming: 152 runs @ 21.71avg
Dale Phillips: 117 runs @ 16.71avg
Dean Foxcroft: 239 runs @ 36.85avg, 2 x 50
Thorn Parkes: 258 runs @ 36.85avg, 3 x 50
Ford Trophy ... where Martin Guptill scored 367 runs @ 52.42avg/102.51sr last season in Auckland's championship run. I reckon Guptill is a better batter than Finn Allen but have no issues with Allen getting a crack against India. Blackcaps depth ensures that blokes need to perform and Guptill is highly likely to score a few FT runs (42.6avg in List-A), so don't worry about Guppy.
This situation is more about Allen and whether his 'best slugging in Aotearoa' can grow into a crafty ODI opener. Allen has shown development this year in his eight ODIs this year, sometimes batting alongside Guptill. Allen registered a 50+ score against Ireland, Scotland and West Indies. Allen scored 35 runs against Australia.
Recent summers have featured Allen scoring FT runs with his touch of aggression. If Allen can do that against the best ODI teams in the world, he'll be a monster. That's less likely than Allen adapting to ODI batting and finding balance in his mahi, or he struggles while Guptill is piling up runs.
Nothing has really changed despite Boult's contract status. Trent Boult played one ODI in 2020, three in 2022. Boult played two T20Is in 2019 and two in 2020. Boult was already dictating his availability (even dropped out of some Test cricket) as he embraced major tournaments while taking breaks in random T20I/ODI series.
Who knows what the future holds for Boult, but there is a decent chance that this recipe continues over the next few years.
Henry Nicholls also feels likely to rack up FT runs. Nicholls has dropped out of the ODI squad and he's played ODI cricket every year since 2015. Nicholls has a LA average of 44.41 and he didn't play last summer, but scored two centuries in five games during the 2020/21 season.
Musical jam...
Wildcard’s Notebook
The Football Ferns continue to prepare for a home World Cup, which pretty much everybody involved is buzzing to be a part of. We’re seeing players make decisions around their club teams based massively around that tournament and ensuring they’re getting game time and putting their best case forward. Katie Bowen and Betsy Hassett signing with A-League teams, for example. We’re also seeing a boost in Ferns games during international windows including the home series against South Korea in Christchurch last week.
But preparing for a World Cup is tricky when you’re missing a number of key players all at once. Ria Percival was with the team in Christchurch which was awesome, hopefully she’s only a few months away from a return to the field after her ACL injury back in April. Rebekah Stott has been on the bench a couple times for Brighton as she works her way back from preseason ankle surgery. Hannah Wilkinson, CJ Bott, and Ali Riley were only short term absentees with untimely niggles. Jacqui Hand has thankfully avoided needing surgery on an injury picked up in training before those games.
It meant the Ferns were missing potentially half their ideal starting eleven for those Korean games (something to keep in mind)... but all except Percival should be back playing by the time the Ferns are next in action against the USA in January. Though with those games not being in an officially recognised FIFA window whether any of them are released by their clubs is another matter entirely.
But it sounds like we won’t be seeing our best player in a Fernies jersey again. Abby Erceg has regularly skipped out on friendly tours over recent years. She played at the 2019 World Cup and the 2021 Olympics but none of the five games in between. Featured a couple times at the SheBelieves Cup in America in February but has otherwise been unavailable for personal reasons in all of Jitka Klimková’s other squads. To the point where NZF don’t even bother to mention her absence in the press releases any more.
Klimková said prior to the Japan game that she was hoping to have a chat with Erceg about her future with the national team. There had been some significant off-field dramas at the Courage, where Erceg is the captain, which caused her to miss some tours. Then that merged into ‘focussing on club duties’. Then that merged into no mention at all. Klimková then turned up for the Korea series saying the same thing, that she still hadn’t been able to have a proper chat with Erceg and she was hoping to do so after these games.
However earlier this week Katie Bowen, a teammate of Erceg’s at NCC this year, had this to say on the radio...
“I mean, Abby’s done. Like, from what I’ve gathered she’s retired for the third time. I don’t think that she wants to represent the country any more. That’s her decision. I think she’s retired and we need to move forward with the players that been putting in the hard yards to represent the fern.”
The annoying thing about all this is how indecisive it has appeared. Abby Erceg is one of Aotearoa’s greatest ever footballers... it’s hard to argue she’s the most successful female footy player we’ve ever had given the titles that she’s won in America. She’s also played 146 times for the Football Ferns – only Ria Percival (161) and Ali Riley (147) have played more. You can’t doubt the service. You can’t doubt the quality. I’ve been under the assumption that she just didn’t enjoy the travel and drag of friendly games and would check back in once the World Cup got imminent. Doing a Trent Boult, as the saying ought to go.
But Bowen’s words (not delivered with bitterness or anything, gotta point that out) touch on another aspect and that’s team chemistry. Erceg is a plug-and-play option if ever there were one (as in, she can fit seamlessly back into the team whenever she’s available) but there are a number of good defenders making sacrifices to get into that World Cup squad and that situation would need to be delicately managed. Even for someone as respected as Erceg.
What’s annoying is the lack of certainty. Understandable for Klimková to not want to close any doors. She’s trying to coax the best performances out of this team possible and the Ferns are better with Abby Erceg than without Abby Erceg. But if Erceg is retired then the door is already closed (maybe not locked, but definitely closed). So can somebody please just admit that for the sake of clarity, you know? That would be nice.
I’m reminded of a fun little video from earlier in the year where Erceg and Bowen read out some fan assumptions and the last one was about how they’re both excited for the World Cup being in NZ. They both agreed they were and then both laughed before Bowen threw out a sneaky “awkwaaaard”...
Which I think was just because there was nothing else to say other than that yeah they were excited... but it’s funny in light of Erceg potentially not actually wanting to play at that World Cup. And that’s completely fine, by the way. As KB said it’s her decision. The Ferns move onwards regardless.
Speaking of which, if Erceg can’t be coaxed back for the World Cup then there’s a suddenly a fascinating duel for the second Football Ferns CB spot. It would have been Erceg and Claudia Bunge, who has started the last nine games in a row and looked pretty bloody good. So far Klimková has picked a back four in every game. That’s led to six different CB combinations in sixteen games...
Meikayla Moore + Claudia Bunge (x5)
Meikayla Moore + Katie Bowen (x4)
Claudia Bunge + Katie Bowen (x3)
Claudia Bunge + Rebekah Stott (x2)
Meikayla Moore + Abby Erceg (x1)
Claudia Bunge + Abby Erceg (x1)
It was curious that Bowen played CB with Moore at RB against South Korea. Moore and Erceg were the combo for all three Olympics games, so that was Tom Sermanni’s preference. But Bunge has really stepped up more recently to lock down one spot and with Bowen increasingly being seen as a central defender (even though she’s said she prefers midfield and that’s also where she’s expected to play for Melbourne City) she seems to have nudged ahead of Moore in the ranks. Maybe a little more technically reliable with that midfielder’s skill set with fewer errors.
Bowen was singled out by Klimková as a standout against Korea and you can’t disagree after watching those games. Rebekah Stott will probably be playing CB at Brighton though. She’s a big challenger. And it ain’t impossible that Kate Taylor or Mack Barry get a chance if their Phoenix form is sharp enough.
Bowen’s case is similar to Liv Chance’s. They’re each best in central midfield and that’s where they’ll be playing for their clubs leading into the World Cup. But we’ve got other strong midfielders. And it may be that having Bowen at CB and Chance at LM provide the best balance for the team overall. Still time to figure that all out.
Since this seems to be a women’s football special from me, I’ve also been pondering what the Welly Nix will line-up like on the weekend. Hugely excited for that game and for the season as a whole. Bit confused about what the eleven will be considering some of the absentees.
Lily Alfeld is out for a couple weeks having had surgery. Isabel Gomez will miss the first couple games too. Grace Wisnewski is way ahead of schedule with her calf tear but week one is too soon. Also Michaela Robertson had a concussion and Emma Rolston’s back acted up while away the Ferns. Potentially all out for the Melbourne City clash.
Brianna Edwards will probably start in goal given she was with the team last year... though I kinda reckon Georgia Candy is even better (two solid backups, to be fair). I suspect the top choice defence would be Marisa van der Meer on the right, Mackenzie Barry and Kate Taylor in the middle, and Michaela Foster on the left. But given some of the injuries, it’d be better for Foster to play further forward more in line with what she did for Northern Rovers. Then MVDM could play on the left and Zoe McMeeken or Saskia Vosper on the right. Or Charlotte Lancaster at left back.
Midfield is funky because Betsy Hassett will start but with no Wisnewski or Gomez that could mean Te Reremoana Walker gets a go as a defensive mid... or it could mean Chloe Knott drops deeper. Emma Rolston should begin as the number one striker. Milly Clegg will threaten that spot more as the season progresses but probably won’t be seen as a week one option due to her inexperience. Knott was the striker last year though and could start there in this game… unless she’s used in midfield in which case Ava Pritchard comes into the mix.
At least we should be able to trust that Alyssa Whinham and Paige Satchell start in their favoured spots... although Satchell only played the first half of each Ferns game as she works back from minor heart surgery (there was a Ferns game vs Australia in February in which she was treated for an irregular heartbeat).
Here’s the team I’d most like to see...
Candy | Vosper, Barry, Taylor, MVDM | Hassett, Knott, Whinham | Foster, Pritchard, Satchell
Women’s National League – Team of the Week #10
GK – Angelique TuiSamoa (Western Springs) – In the only game this week to be decided by fewer than three goals, TuiSamoa was decisive. In particular that 86th minute stop punching the ball away with lightning reactions, just minutes before her team went up the other end and scored the winner against the Cantabs. That was the peak of AT’s day though she was making saves the entire way.
RB – Talisha Green (Northern Rovers) – Third week in a row that she’s made this team. Second week in a row with an assist. Green serves up the defensive goods regardless but when she plays on the right side she also offers some excellent crossing ability. All effort. All class.
CB – Greer MacIntosh (Northern Rovers) – Very tidy defensive display as her team kept their first clean sheet since week three. Plus she ended the game in midfield and almost scored a couple goals off set pieces along the way. Fine work.
CB – Rebecca Lake (Canterbury United Pride) – Seems odd to have two Cantab defenders in the TOW when they lost 3-2 (vs Springs). But that game was a thriller which could’ve gone either way. One of the best games all season. Lake was superb. One gut-busting effort play to prevent a goal especially really stands out.
LB – Lara Wall (Canterbury United Pride) – Possibly the most complete fullback in the competition, Wall is equally excellent in her defensive duties and her attacking exploits. Ultimately a losing effort, but she dealt with a really tough Western Springs forward line and also sparked some fantastic moves with those runs up the left wing.
CM – Emma Pijnenburg (Western Springs) – Created the move that led to the first goal. Scored the second goal. Set up the winning goal in the ninetieth minute. What more can you ask for from one of Aotearoa’s best emerging midfielders?
CM – Sarah Morton (Southern United) – Always plays with a smile on her face no matter what’s going on. Plus her wise movement from midfield and her eye for a pass were crucial in another impressive Southern win on the weekend.
FW – Nicole Mettam (Eastern Suburbs) – Had to do the four-woman frontline this week to get a better reflection going... and even still there are a couple players that it’s absolutely painful to leave out. Tayla O’Brien and Deven Jackson each had two goals and two assists in Eastern Suburbs’ 9-1 win over Central. They were brilliant. They deserve to be here. But hopefully they’ll understand the snub. Instead Mettam represents the lot of them. A goal and two assists for herself as she’s really nailed down a starting spot over the last few weeks.
FW – Rene Wasi (Northern Rovers) – Her speed is undeniable... but it was Wasi’s passing and her finishing that got her into this team. A couple goals for one of the most unselfish players going around, about time she got her close-up.
FW – Kennedy Bryant (Southern United) – A hat-trick, get that into ya. Three nicely taken goals as Southern came from a goal down away from home to beat Auckland United 4-1. Bryant’s presence as a number nine who can play both facing and with her back to goal has been huge for this team. Cool to see her get the goals to show for it.
FW – Charlotte Roche (Canterbury United Pride) – Top scorer for the champion Cantabs Youth National League, she’s since started two games for the top side and has scored three goals – including two bangers in the loss to Western Springs. Solid strength, decent pace, great finishing. We’ll be hearing plenty more about Charlotte Roche down the line.