Burying The Lede
Flying Kiwis Transfer Tracker, Warriors x World School Sevens, Lydia Ko returns & more
Podcast
TNC Variety Show - Episode 47
The Niche Cast - The Coronation (White Ferns/Steven Adams/Flying Kiwis)
Reading Menu
10 Funky Kiwi-NRL Second Year Lads For 2022 (No NZ Warriors) (NRL)
Aotearoa Kiwis Coach Michael Maguire Strikes Again As Wests Tigers Coach (NRL)
All Whites vs Jordan/Uzbekistan: Squad Yarns (Football)
Exploring The Possible White Ferns World Cup Squad (Cricket)
When Lockie Ferguson's Fit and Healthy, He's Really Good (Cricket)
What Will Gael Sandoval & Scott Wootton Bring To The Wellington Phoenix? (Football)
Flying Kiwis – January 19 (Football)
In Their Time Of Need, Newcastle United Have Turned To Chris Wood To Save Them (Football)
Scotty’s Word
Lydia Ko returns…
Lydia Ko sealed a tied-10th finish at her first LPGA tournament of 2022 in Orlando. Ko’s homie Danielle Kang won the tournament and these two would have spent time together during their break, so that’s a good forecasting sign as well. Ko didn’t quite putt as well as she usually does in the final round and was hampered by a lack of fairways hit in earlier rounds, but was typically excellent in Sand Saves (5/5).
Stretching back to the end of last year, Ko now has four straight top-10 finishes and this can be flipped into six top-10 finishes across her last eight tournaments. As always, don’t buzz about the wins as Ko’s best mahi comes when she is consistent and LPGA domination can come in the form of regular top-10 finishes.
Next up is the Gainsbridge tournament, also in Florida starting on Friday NZT.
Burying the NZ Warriors lede…
You would have heard about how NZ Warriors had a team playing in the ‘World School Sevens’ tournament in Auckland over the weekend. Pretty nice yarn all around and while I’m not buzzing too much about players at this level, two things were buried among the novelty value…
First is a taster to tickle the cross-code taste buds. According to the NZ Warriors yarn about this, at least four players in their squad play 1st 15 rugby. Regular readers know this is the vibe across Aotearoa footy and we know NZ Warriors as well as NRL clubs love 1st 15 talent, plus 1st 15 schools love rugby league talent. Sure, switching to Sevens is a unique challenge but plenty of kiwi kids grow up playing both codes - even more so in Auckland.
That’s just the taster though because the lede buried by NZ Warriors, World School Sevens and anyone noting anything from this tournament is that Francis Manuleleua and Xavier Tito-Harris are in the Warriors system and played for the NZ Condors team that won both the lads and wahine tournaments.
(The whole tournament was a party for the Condor Cartel - other teams were quickly assembled while Condors are the Sevens All Stars)
Regular readers will recognise Manuleleua’s name as I’m always typing it out in these emails. Manuleleua has been juggling 1st 15 rugby for Kings College as well as Future Warriors (U16) stuff, which is parlayed into NZRU rep teams and NZRL rep teams. Manuleleua was too young for Warriors SG Ball and was playing 1st 15 in 5th form (alongside NZ Warriors juniors Ali Leiataua and Eric Va’afusuaga who are now over in Redcliffe).
The last NZRL rep team I can find for Manuleleua is the 2019 U16 Residents team - also in this team were Keano Kini (Titans), Zyon Maiu’u (Warriors), Stanley Iongi (Raiders), Leiataua (Warriors), Carlos Tarawhiti (Sharks), Arama Kite (Cowboys), Tea-Rani Woodman-Tuhoro (Storm), Felix Fa’atili (Broncos), Cassius Cowley (Wynnum).
2020 and 2021 were horrible for NZRL rep footy, so minimal NZRL rep stuff for Manuleleua since then. Late in 2020, Manuleleua was specifically mentioned by NZ Warriors for training with the wider NRL team. Last year Manuleleua was named in the NZRU Schoolboys team and he now has his final season of 1st 15 rugby coming up.
Xavier Tito-Harris is a Kelston Boys High School product, who played in their 1st 15 Auckland championship team. Tito-Harris featured in the Blues U18 squad and was also in the 2020 Future Warriors, before getting a specific mention in this yarn from NZ Warriors late last year about their summer training group; apparently Tito-Harris will move to Redcliffe sometime very soon.
Not only were NZ Warriors playing against two of their best juniors in Aotearoa, there is a brewing battle looming for Manuleleua. The Warriors made it clear that Tito-Harris would be joining their set up in Redcliffe and while that may not end up true, there is at least some wrinkle of clarity. Manuleleua on the other hand has not been mentioned in any Warriors/NZRL stuff since the late 2020 note and this is the biggest battle for junior talent currently in Aotearoa.
None of this should be viewed through the ‘Etene Nanai-Seturo’ lens as that was just a hyped up battle between the codes and many more such battles are present with more impactful players. This is more a yarn about burying the lede and the same vibe sits here to the how Stanley Iongi’s move to Raiders was reported last week. The stuff you hear about in the mainstream isn’t automatically the most important just because it hits the mainstream.
Here we had a cute NZ Warriors story about them tapping into a Sevens tournament. Meanwhile, the most coveted cross-code junior (Manuleleua) has been in the Warriors system since (at least) 2018 and was playing against the Warriors in this tournament after being named in the 2021 NZRU Schoolboys team. Oh and Tito-Harris might soon be popping up in a Redcliffe Dolphins team after looking slick for the Condors.
Aotearoa’s the best footy nation in the world and Manuleleua may be the cross-code monster that you need to know about.
Redcliffe Dolphins Kiwi-NRL mahi…
Want to learn about Kiwi-NRL? Take a geeze at the Dolphins NRL signings…
Valynce Te Whare: 22 years, signed from Waikato rugby.
Jamayne Isaako: 25 years, signed from Broncos.
Jesse Bromwich: 32 years, signed from Storm.
In that trio we have the young unknown lad signed from rugby union, the young Aotearoa Kiwis international who helped ushered in the current Kiwi-NRL vibe and the OG kaumatua in Bromwich. Three Kiwi-NRL signings, each from different Kiwi-NRL levels.
Israel Adesanya korero…
Wildcard’s Notebook
Flying Kiwis Transfer Tracker
Oh yeah now we’re talking. When Joe Bell rejected the offer of a new contract with Viking, that was always going to spark interest from other clubs and now the rumours are emerging. Beginning with the team that submitted a bid for him a few months back... English Championship club Barnsley. Unfortunately for Barnsley they’re dead last in the Champo right now so not really sure that’s the best option on the table. Particularly not if Heine’s on the money there (and he generally is) with talk of possible Premier League and Bundesliga suitors.
Further to that point is this from VG’s transfer window coverage:
That the English Championship club Barnsley are interested in the Viking player Joe Bell (22) has gradually become a poorly hidden secret. This summer, the interest from Barnsley was mentioned in several media - and according to VG's knowledge, the English club has approached Viking in this window but been told that the Stavanger club wants to keep the midfielder. Therefore, there is unlikely to be a formal offer from the club, which is currently placed last in the Championship. Bell has one year left on his contract and his agents, according to Stavanger Aftenblad, have given notice that he does not want to extend the contract.
“We take note of the answer, then we will see if there are inquiries about him from other clubs or if something happens in January”, Viking's sports manager Erik Nevland told the newspaper earlier this month. Viking's CEO, Eirik Bjørnø, does not want to comment on VG's information.”
Okay so, summarising all that, it appears that Barnsley are still very interested in bringing Joe Bell to their club... but they probably can’t stump up enough of a fee to get Viking to reciprocate in talks. They didn’t last time and their situation has only gotten worse with the risk of relegation.
Meanwhile much bigger clubs appear to be following his case. Clubs from the top flight of England and Germany who absolutely could afford to prise him away with a year left on his deal. 24yo Bodø/Glimt defensive midfielder Patrick Berg recently moved to Lens for a reported €4.50m fee which feels like a comparable area.
Bell’s better off staying at Viking than going to Barnsley at this stage. He might stay at Viking even if he does get sold as a Premier League/Bundesliga club could opt to loan him back for the rest of their current season and then integrate him in preseason. It’s a possibility at least. No clubs have been named. Still all in that misty hearsay phase. But this is another major step forward in the Joe Bell saga.
I wrote a piece a week or so ago about the odd rebuilding phase that the North Carolina Courage have seemingly entered. They’ve traded away so many of their best players in recent times (but especially since last season ended) without getting equivalent players back in those deals, mostly hunting for draft picks instead. It’s a trend that even captain Abby Erceg appears to have been blindsided by.
But in that piece I did suggest that the Courage might fancy another Aotearoa footballer to help guide them into their next era. Katie Bowen was recently waived by the Kansas City Currents. She went to university in North Carolina. She has a long term national team buddy playing for the Courage. Her good mate Amy Rodriguez (whom she flatted with back in Utah, pretty sure) is a striker for NCC these days. Plus KB’s versatile and has a great energy and passion for the game plus is now pretty experienced too having played 89 NWSL games since being drafted in 2016.
Yup, sure enough...
Katie Bowen: “My US soccer career started here as a Tar Heel ten years ago and it’s always been a dream to get back. I’m so excited to join the Courage and bring home the 2022 championship.”
NCC Head Coach Sean Nahas: “We are thrilled to add someone of Katie’s experience. She is a very versatile player who will add so much to our environment. She brings a great energy and passion to the game, which is something I know our players can and will feed off of. When I spoke to Katie on the phone, I could sense the excitement for her to come to North Carolina, a place where she went to college, and now a place she can call home in her professional career.”
Versatile. Experienced. Energy. Passion. Told ya so (by complete fluke).
Ollie Whyte’s move to FC Haka has also been confirmed since Friday’s email. He’s signed with the Finnish top flight club on a 1+1 deal, a one-year contract with the club having the option of a second year if he goes well – and given the success of Logan Rogerson at the club, coming from a similar pedigree, he’s got a very solid chance of doing exactly that. Although there is a one-month probationary period in the contract which I presume means they can void it within that period if he gets out of the training park and turns out to be a bit of an Ali Dia. That won’t happen though.
Ollie Whyte: “My agent has a good connection with the club. I heard through him what kind of team is being built here and the project sounded very appealing to me. I have really enjoyed my time here already and have been warmly received which has helped me to settle. The club is like a close-knit family, which I find absolutely wonderful. I believe I will offer good organised play to the team, setting things up for both my teammates and myself. We have a young and talented team that plays good football and is hungry for the coming season!”
Finally, there’s this one...
WeeNix midfielder Manny Achol joining UAE club Gulf United fresh after it was announced that former Wellington Phoenix captain Steven Taylor would be their new manager. Some context here, Achol has played a lot of footy in Aotearoa but he represents his birth national South Sudan at international level so doesn’t quite make the Flying Kiwis cut. But still gonna talk about it.
Info’s tricky to find on all this but it appears that Gulf United have been more of a youth academy in the past and that 2021-22 is their first season in the UAE senior footballing pyramid, entering in the third division (which begins in February). Their media stuff (instagram is the most informative) is all done in English so it seems it’s a club run by expat foreigners. Lots of scholarships for overseas players. Taylor mentions in there that they’ve got a very young team. Cool for Achol though, whose skilful midfield play was always a joy to watch for the WeeNix and for Hawke’s Bay United before that.
The Wellington Phoenix Academy has also offered a fond farewell to Henry Hamilton, another impressive midfielder who has been a familiar name on National League teamsheets for several years despite his age, as he heads off on a scholarship to Manhattan College. Not a professional transfer or anything but might as well mention it alongside Achol.