Casual Contracts
Blackcaps contract kerfuffles, All Whites goalie depth, Steven Adams re-emergence, Wellington Phoenix news, Warriors young forwards, and more
Podcast
Subscribe: Apple | Spotify | Youtube
Reading Menu
Exploring New Zealand Warriors Halves Depth For 2025 And Beyond (Rugby League)
NRLWahine Spotlight: Stacey Waaka & The Black Fern Broncos (Rugby League)
Breaking Down The 2024 Aotearoa Kiwis Squad Mixer (Rugby League)
The Wellington Phoenix Deployed The Youngsters And Got Knocked Out Of The Aussie Cup (Football)
Flying Kiwis – August 13 (Football)
A New Australian NBL Season Looms And Once Again It’s Chock-Full Of Kiwi Players (Basketball)
Five Funky Movers In The 2024/25 Domestic Cricket Contracts (Cricket)
Three Funky Pockets Of The 2024/25 Domestic Cricket Contracts (Cricket)
Exploring The Blackcaps Test Mixer For The Great Asia Adventure Of 2024 (Cricket)
27fm Album Jukebox - August 2024 (Music)
Scotty’s Word
Finn Allen dipped out of his NZC contract and Devon Conway switched to a casual contract? Unbothered ... while being open to how the bad vibes could compound on top of each other.
Ultimately though, I'm still not fussed by these contract situations. Regular reminder: contracts do not dictate how much cricket someone can play for Blackcaps, their main purpose is to sort out the financials for a player and for NZC. Fans shouldn't worry about Blackcaps/White Ferns contracts even though they are presented as key indicators for cricket fans to gauge matters.
In this current contract cycle we have had Kane Williamson switch to a casual contract, while Adam Milne and Lockie Ferguson turned down Blackcaps contracts. What do Williamson, Milne, Ferguson, and Conway have in common? They are all at least 32-years-old.
General Blackcaps idea to ponder: do you want to keep rolling out the same mature group or refresh the squad with any number of fabulous young talents?
The truth is that refreshments have already been delivered and this has pretty much aligned with Sam Wells taking over as chief selector. Rachin Ravindra was the best NZ batter at the ODI World Cup last year. Glenn Phillips was introduced as a Test all-rounder for Tests in Bangladesh, then Ravindra was given the number four spot for Tests last summer. O'Rourke and Sears made Test debuts; O'Rourke played Australia in his second Test and Sears debuted vs Australia.
Those four lads weren't Test cricket regulars before Wells took over. Ravindra is one of the best Blackcaps Test batters right now and Phillips has more runs in the World Test Championship than Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham, Tom Blundell, or Conway. Phillips also has far better spin bowling stats than Ish Sodhi and more wickets/lower average than Ajaz Patel. Phillips has played six Tests in this WTC cycle and Michael Bracewell hasn't played one. The only bowler who has been more effective than O'Rourke is Matt Henry.
Blackcaps cricket has already moved towards younger players. In the Test bubble, Sears is the only fresh bloke who isn't statistically among the Blackcaps' best - mostly because he debuted against the world champion Australian outfit. Sears does have an excellent T20I record already (22.3avg/8.1rpo) though.
Meanwhile… Ferguson dipped out of a Blackcaps contract after two years averaging 40+ in ODI bowling and Milne has played over seven ODIs in just one year since his debut in 2012, only averaging less than 30 in one of the eight years in which he's played ODIs. Both are good T20 cricketers who are over 30yrs and that's a recipe for the T20 circuit.
Conway has a Test batting average of 11.7 in this World Test Championship cycle. For those who don't know about the Conway slump...
Tests
2021: 63.1avg/50sr
2022: 49.9avg/52sr
2023: 32.4avg/48sr
2024: 11.7avg/40sr
T20I
2020: 58avg/151sr
2021: 47avg/135sr
2022: 47avg/122sr
2023: 13avg/110sr
2024: 22.8avg/118sr
Conway needs Blackcaps runs asap. Now Conway has a SA20 gig and his situation is similar to Williamson, with NZC giving them casual contracts which basically allows them to play SA20 during the Super Smash and/or summer ODI/T20I series. The Super Smash is a fantastic boutique T20 competition that bucks against the trends of global cricket (no superstars, just fun cricket) and senior Blackcaps have always skipped summer ODI/T20I series.
Sidenote: Williamson just earned an SA20 gig after his worst IPL campaign (13avg/100sr) followed by his second-worst IPL campaign in 2022 (19avg/93sr). Conway's got a SA20 gig while in the midst of a two-year T20I batting slump.
Blackcaps Test stats since start of 2023
Batting
Kane Williamson: 61.84avg/52.6sr
Rachin Ravindra: 55.7avg/55.2sr
Daryl Mitchell: 39avg/55sr
Ajaz Patel: 36avg/39sr
Glenn Phillips: 34.8avg/81.5sr
Tom Latham: 30.8avg/45.9avg
Matt Henry: 28.8avg/96.9sr
Tom Blundell: 28.7avg/58.3sr
Devon Conway: 27.5avg/47sr
Michael Bracewell: 22.1avg/56.7sr
Will Young: 20.7avg/35.9sr
Mitchell Santner: 19avg/69sr
Bowling
Will O'Rourke: 17.3avg/2.8rpo
Mitchell Santner: 17.4avg/2.4rpo
Glenn Phillips: 17.4avg/2.9rpo
Rachin Ravindra: 20.4avg/2.4rpo
Matt Henry: 22.5avg/2.8rpo
Ajaz Patel: 26.7avg/3.8rpo
Ben Sears: 32.2avg/4.8rpo
Tim Southee: 36.2avg/2.8rpo
Michael Bracewell: 37.6avg/3.4rpo
Daryl Mitchell: 147avg/3rpo
Allen is different because he's younger at 25yrs. Allen is a T20 slugger who hasn't done much in red ball cricket and couldn't take his opportunities in the ODI team, so it makes complete sense for him to enter the T20 circuit.
Allen flashed his potential with a century against a touring England team in a red ball two-dayer back in 2019. At no stage since then has Allen commanded 1st 11 Plunket Shield selection for Wellington or Auckland, playing 19 games with 20.5avg/52.6sr. Allen started his ODI career with 38.7avg/94sr in 2022 and that gave him more opportunities ahead of the 2023 World Cup, but he then fizzled with 17.7avg/91sr and didn't make the ODI World Cup squad.
Allen has played 22 ODIs and 47 T20Is since his T20I debut early in 2021. He hasn’t been able to command more ODI game time and he was a large part of the T20 World Cup woes this year, forming a mediocre opening partnership with Conway...
Conway: 70 runs @ 23avg/108sr
Allen: 35 runs @ 8.7avg/81sr
This is a logical move for a T20 hitter like Allen. He doesn't have any Test future and hasn't done anything to suggest he can be a long-term ODI opening batter. I reckon NZC is being rather generous in giving Conway a casual contract as he hasn't done anything close to what Williamson has done in earning that casual contract, but Conway has more multi-format upside than Allen (or Ferguson, Milne) so they are showing Conway some appreciation.
It's also worth highlighting that Blackcaps don't have any Test cricket scheduled for the early 2025 phase. Williamson and Conway can play every Test through the Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, India, England phase with these casual contracts. Then, as is usually the case, Blackcaps ODI/T20I squads will feature lots of emerging Blackcaps over the summer.
I am consistent in my belief that Aotearoa has a strong crop of young cricketers on the rise. This is documented throughout the Niche Cache as well as every newsletter dispatch over the summer. Now is not the time to be concerned about the state of kiwi cricket, now is the time to learn about the youngsters who are the future. These youngsters who are scoring runs and taking wickets in ways that aren't usually associated with New Zealand cricket stereotypes.
Switching to rugby league where it's a similar vibe with NZ Warriors. You may have seen the bonkers Toby Crosby try from the NZW Jersey Flegg win over Rabbitohs last weekend, which is only slightly better than another Crosby try from earlier in the year vs Roosters (these gifs aren’t sped up, Crosby is just really fast)…
Crosby has crazy highlights for NZW just as he did for St Pat's Silverstream 1st 15. The funky thing here is that NZW have a plethora of young forwards and they are all quietly gathering experience. As bonkers as Crosby's highlights are, there are younger forwards playing at a higher level and at the same level as Crosby right now for NZW.
Rodney Tuipulotu-Vea started at prop with Crosby vs Rabbitohs and he's climbed up from the U19 SG Ball team this year, also playing more NSW Cup games than Crosby. NZW have eight other forwards who are U21s and they either play NSW Cup consistently, or have played a few games of reserve grade. Here's how that looks for NZW lads who are U21s with forwards in bold...
(Age/Age bracket | NRL games played | NSW Cup games played)
Ali Leiataua: 21yrs | 6 | 24
Demitric Sifakula: 20yrs | 4 | 20
Zyon Maiu'u: 21yrs | 1 | 40
Jacob Laban: 20yrs | 7 | 28
Leka Halasima: 18yrs | 4 | 26
Tanner Stowers-Smith: 20yrs | 0 | 33
Eddie Ieremia: U21 | 0 | 26
Luke Hanson: U21 | 0 | 15
Makaia Tafua: U21 | 0 | 14
Motu Pasikala: U19 | 0 | 13
Harry Durbin: U21 | 0 | 11
Jacob Auloa: U19 | 0 | 10
Kayliss Fatialofa: U19 | 0 | 9
Sio Kali: U19 | 0 | 7
Rodney Tuipulotu-Vea: U19 | 0 | 3
Toby Crosby: U21 | 0 | 1
As we discussed in the Subscriber Pod yesterday, my read of the two Andys development plan is that they are aligned with Melbourne Storm/Penrith Panthers in the slow-brew. Andrew Webster and Andrew McFadden both spent time with NZW before this era, so they know all too well how NZW would rush younger lads into NRL from Under 20s. The two Andys watched talented youngsters flash then fizzle at NZW and now they are slowly building the young wave up with tasters of NRL footy mixed in with lots of NSW Cup experience.
In the Subscriber Pod (jam a paid Substack sub to help fund this newsletter and access the bonus pod) I laid out how Leiataua got an NRL taste last year followed by Sifakula. Laban, Maiu'u, and Halasima have all had glimpses of NRL footy, with Leiataua and Sifakula swinging back around in recent weeks to add to their NRL experience as they manage injuries. No one is being rushed. They are all being carefully managed.
Who knows how NZW perform in their NRL game vs Sea Eagles tonight. I'm more interested in how the young NZW NSW Cup team performs vs Sea Eagles tomorrow as this young group has two seasons with winning records in Australia under the two Andys. Sea Eagles are 9th in NSW Cup with a 4-7 home record and while there is still a strong young core, the NZW team named is boosted by the likes of Taine Tuaupiki, Paul Roache, Bunty Afoa and Kalani Going
2023: 3rd | 7-4 in Aus
2024: 4th | 6-4 in Aus
U21s named for NSW Cup Warriors vs Sea Eagles:
Motu Pasikala, Luke Hanson, Zyon Maiu'u, Jacob Laban, Eddie Ieremia, Makaia Tafua, Tanner Stowers-Smith
Tenika Willison is named on the wing for Knights in NRLW, joining Stacey Waaka and Tyla King as Black Ferns Seves gold medal winners now in NRLW. There could also be a debut for Matekino Kahukoti-Gray for Titans as she is named on the bench for Titans having come through Rotorua Girls High School.
NRLWahine named for round four
Broncos: Mele Hufanga, Stacey Waaka, Gayle Broughton, Jasmine Fogavini, Tafito Lafaele, Lavinia Gould
Raiders: Madison Bartlett, Cheyelle Robins-Reti, Mackenzie Wiki, Ash Quinlan, Kerehitina Matua |
Cowboys: Harata Butler
Titans: Georgia Hale, Matekino Kahukoti-Gray | Hailee-Jay Ormond-Maunsell, Ngatokotoru Arakua
Dragons: Maatuleio Fotu-Moala, Tyla King, Raecene McGregor, Angelina Teakaraanga-Katoa, Alexis Tauaneai
Roosters: Mya Hill-Moana, Otesa Pule | Tiana Davison, Amber Hall
Sharks: Annessa Biddle, Brooke Anderson | Pia Tapsell, Jaydika Tafua
Knigts: Tenika Willison, Shanice Parker, Abigail Roache, Laishon Albert-Jones, Nita Maynard, Grace Kukutai | Isabella Waterman
Tigers: Leianne Tufuga, Najvada George
Eels: Rosie Kelly
UFC 305 goes down this weekend as well with Israel Adesanya, Kai Kara-France and Dan Hooker fighting in Perth. Adesanya is fighting for the middle championship, coming off a loss in his last fight. Kara-France is coming off two losses and Hooker is coming off two wins, with all three fighting for the first time this year.
Lydia Ko is now an Olympic legend and I'm not too fussed about her LPGA mahi, but it will be interesting to see how she finishes this year. Ko is tied-5th after the first round of the Scottish Open and her only top-10 stat rankings on the LPGA Tour this year are...
Race to CME Globe Season: 6th
Putting Average: 28.94 - 7th
Musical jam…
Wildcard’s Notebook
It has been a funky few days for the Wellington Phoenix blokes. Fresh from finding out that Alex Paulsen is going to be joining Auckland FC on loan, they’ve moved to bring in an import goalkeeper to take his place: Josh Oluwayemi. This comes soon after the announcement that Hamilton Wanderers and NZ U16s youngster Luke Brooke-Smith has signed a multi-year scholarship deal after a successful trial with the club. Feels like a rare signing from outside their own academy, but actually he’s of the same age that they sign many of their academy players – think guys like Nathan Walker, Dylan Gardiner, Nick Murphy, and Matt Foord who all joined the WeeNix after the last U17 World Cup – the rarity here is that he’s going straight into the first team picture rather than the club’s U20s.
LBS has until round 22 to make an A-League debut if he wants to become the club’s youngest-ever player, breaking the record that Gabriel Sloane-Rodrigues set last year. The fact that he’s gone straight onto a scholarship deal rather than an academy one suggests he’s a good shot at doing that – last year’s scholars were GSR, Matt Sheridan, and Alby Kelly-Heald and they all made matchday squads with only AKH unable to earn a debut (mostly because he’s a goalie so it’s hard to find substitute opportunities – remember backup goalie Jack Duncan didn’t play either).
Speaking of, there’s a good chance that AKH gets upgraded to a senior contract soon in order to be the backup keeper behind Oluwayemi. That’d be a promotion from third violin to second violin, moving his way up in the band (not to mention a senior deal would come with a notable payrise plus he’d join his twin brother in doing so). The progress that Kelly-Heald has made over the past two years suggests he’s good enough to be an ALM reserve, but chucking him straight in there as a starter would surely have been too much too soon. Don’t wanna destroy a bloke’s confidence. Even Alex Paulsen had that year sitting on the bench behind Oli Sail waiting for his opportunity.
Oluwayemi comes from the Tottenham Hotspur academy, however he never got particularly close to the first team. Did have some decent times at Portsmouth FC before leaving to play for FC Lahti in the Finnish division. To be honest, he wasn’t great in Finland. In 13 matches he conceded 25 times with only one clean sheet and that lone clean sheet was also the only game the team won with JO in the side. 9 points in 6 games without him, 7 points in 13 games with him.
One of his appearances was a 1-1 draw against FC Haka in which Ollie Whyte got the last dozen minutes off the bench... although Oluwayemi has a much stronger kiwi connection from his time on loan with Chelmsford City. He did pretty well there until injury saw his loan cut short so they replaced him with former Welly Nix youngster Henry Gray on loan instead. Gray got three matchday squad selections for the Phoenix in the 2021-22 season. The rest is history.
Oluwayemi’s career to date doesn’t stand out but the Nix seem to like what they see in him and this club does have a strong track record when it comes to imports. As rough as the FC Lahti stuff was, he had a pretty soft defence in front of him and the fact he was there at all shows he’s a bloke who isn’t afraid to step outside his comfort zone.
Luke Brooke-Smith was part of the NZ U16s squad that bossed it at the recent Oceania Championships, earning qualification to the next U17 World Cup. Five wins from five for the kiwis, scoring 31 goals and conceding two. There were only three Wellington Phoenix players in that squad but you can bet that LBS won’t be the last of them to make the voyage to the capital.
Brooke-Smith was second in minutes behind Luka Vicelich. He also scored five goals which was topped only by Aaron Cartright – who was one of several players in the systems of other A-League clubs. Melbourne City in his case. This squad seemed to have more of a presence from overseas-based dudes than we usually see for the Oceania stuff, especially at this age. That includes Connor Smith who is with FC Hennef 05 in Germany, and captain Alex Lienart from the Sunderland AFC academy.
Aotearoa at the U16 Oceania Championships (2024)
By the way, the Women’s U20 World Cup begins in two weeks so we should see a squad for that very soon. It’ll look mostly like the group that played against Australia a month or so back though there is a possibility that Milly Clegg could be added. She’s eligible and hasn’t debuted for Racing Louisville yet so it’s not like they’d miss her.
I thought it interesting that Reading FC were so stoked about Tyler Bindon skipping basically all of their preseason in order to play both the Oceania Nations Cup and the Olympics. They just saw it as great player development opportunities for him, getting to experience different styles of footy. Would be cool to see Clegg at the U20WC again... but only if she’s not going to be getting minutes for Racing Lou.
Steven Adams is currently back in Aotearoa doing his basketball camps which has put him in front of a few microphones for the first time in a long time. He’s been out of sight during his knee surgery recovery, a time period that also saw him traded from the Memphis Grizzlies to the Houston Rockets, but he’s trending towards being available for the start of the new season and that means it’s time to start ramping up the excitement over the upcoming NBA season. It just wasn’t the same without him.
Steve-o to the Otago Daily Times: “It’s still there, bro. The surgery went well. I’m still in the rehab protocol right now, but I’ve still got a bit of time between now and the training camp at the end of September. Everything has been really, really positive so far. So I’ve just got to carry on and not get too complacent and stick to what’s been working.”
He also confirmed what had been widely reported already which is that he had been “thinking about” playing international basketball for the Tall Blacks prior to the injury – he was rumoured to be keen on playing at the last World Cup only for this mess of a knee situation to get in the way. He also popped up on The Morning Shift last week for a lovely chat that got aggregated by NBA media over his Kevin Garnett “no hablo” comments from way back when.
Meanwhile, I’ve discovered something fascinating about the NBA career of Steven Adams: He has never shared the floor with an Australian teammate. Across a decade in the league, at a time when more Aussies are making it to the big time than ever before, Steve-o has only ever had one Australian teammate and that was Will Magnay in the New Orleans Pelicans season. Magnay had a two-way contract and he played one game. It was a blowout win against the Los Angeles Lakers in March 2021 and Magnay subbed in for Adams with about three minutes remaining... ensuring that the two Anzacs never overlapped. 706 games in the NBA and he’s never had to pass the ball to, or set a screen for, an Australian.
That could be about to change though. Jock Landale is the current backup centre on the roster. He could get moved out if Adams returns to fitness on schedule and it’s doubtful they’d ever both be on the court at the same time, but Jack McVeigh has also joined the Rockets on a two-way deal so there’s potential there as well. Kinda reckon that Steven Adams plus Joe Ingles could have been a legendary partnership in an alternate timeline, both on and off the court (as long as there’s no lingering malice over this), let alone what he could have gotten up to setting screens for Kyrie Irving if you wanna count him as Australian. Dunno, I just found it buzzy that he’s never played with an Aussie.
Musical Jam...