Chief Believers
Blackcaps T20 World Cup squad, Wellington Phoenix news, Super Smash cricket, Flying Kiwis transfers, Warriors depth wriggles, and more
Scotty’s Word
The Blackcaps T20 World Cup squad is a grizzly group full of experience but don’t let that cloud your vision about youngsters being developed within the Blackcaps bubble. I was super curious about the direction of the T20WC squad and have no issues with the blokes selected because they have either performed well for Aotearoa recently or they are doing good mahi in their T20 jobs.
Here is a team of younger lads to have played for Aotearoa within the last few years...
Rhys Mariu, Tim Robinson, Muhammad Abbas, Bevon Jacobs, Mitchell Hay (wk), Zak Foulkes, Nathan Smith, Adithya Ashok, Ben Sears, Matt Fisher, Will O’Rourke
Unlucky lads are Tim Robinson, Bevon Jacobs, Zak Foulkes and Ben Sears. Even the travelling reserve is Kyle Jamieson and this highlights how the squad is designed to win the T20WC, not ease players into the Blackcaps. I reckon they can win the T20WC but I’m scorned by the 2023 tournament where Blackcaps were knocked out in the group stage.
I prefer this squad over the last T20WC squad and that includes the presence of Kane Williamson, Trent Boult and Tim Southee in losses to Afghanistan and West Indies. The current squad genuinely smells like the best T20 group Aotearoa has and tournament experience, as well in overseas conditions, is a major factor.
I’m the chief believer that the young cricketers in Aotearoa are awesome and better than previous generations yet I’m also embracing this T20WC squad. Take these two batters for example: I think Robinson and Jacobs will be all-format Blackcaps in a few years, but they still have to grow into earning major tournament selection.
Robinson’s 36.9avg/145sr for T20Is in Aotearoa drops to 24.4avg/128sr for games overseas, as well as 9.5avg/126sr in the T20 Blast earlier this year. Robinson and Jacobs shared a lovely T20I partnership vs South Africa in the tri-series last year, which was Jacobs’ best knock for Aotearoa. His other knocks didn’t demand 1st 11 selection which sets up a funky T20I series vs India where Jacobs could do something crazy. Plus, Jacobs had 11.6avg/90sr in his first CPL and 13avg/96sr in ILT20. Jacobs wasn’t a dominant force for NZ-A in South Africa either with three ducks in his four innings.
The selection of Jacob Duffy frames the absences of Foulkes and Sears. Matt Henry has developed into a top-tier T20 seamer for Aotearoa, which has been the funkiest addition to the T20 mixer along with Duffy’s wizardry. At some stage in the last year or so, Sears then Foulkes were ahead of the other two in my ponderings but Henry and Duffy have commanded selection through their performances.
Lockie Ferguson and Adam Milne have been high quality T20I bowlers for Aotearoa, who’ve maintained that in their T20 jobs. Milne has been more undercover than Ferguson but his 24.6avg/8.3rpo in T20Is is matched by 23.1avg/7.8rpo in T20s. As Kane Williamson crawls along with 22avg/124sr in SA20, Milne has been in dominant form with 11.2avg/6.4rpo.
Jimmy Neesham should be viewed as a bowler. Like most, maybe all of the players in this squad, Neesham has a clear thingy that led to his selection and that’s his efficiency taking wickets. Neesham (15.8) is one of five kiwis who have taken 20+ T20I wickets with strike-rates below 16 and Duffy (13.8) has the lowest strike-rate, followed by Ferguson (14.3) ... and Matt Henry’s on 16.1 as the sixth lowest in this silo.
Add in global experience, maturity and the (diminished) possibility that Neesham might whack a few boundaries for the Neesham’s selection case.
Spin? Blackcaps have their two best T20I spinners ever in Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi, as well as spinny all-rounders Phillips, Ravindra and Michael Bracewell.
Here’s my 1st 11...
Tim Seifert (wk), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Mark Chapman, Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Jacob Duffy
Squad: Devon Conway (wk), Jimmy Neesham, Ish Sodhi, Adam Milne
Don’t forget that the Blackcaps ODI series vs India starts on Sunday night. There is some crossover with the T20 focus but there are also a bunch of emerging players to watch out for with Hay, Foulkes, Ashok, Nick Kelly, Josh Clarkson, Kristian Clarke, Michael Rae and Jayden Lennox in the squad.
2025/26 Super Smash: Matthew Boyle, Flora Devonshire, Fraser Sheat & Xara Jetly
2025/26 Super Smash: The Bevon Jacobs Report
2026 New Zealand Tour Of India: ODI Series Preview
I’ve got lots of Super Smash notes beyond the paywall for paid subscribers and the Patreon whanau. I also highlight a few NZ Warriors stat pockets from the two Andys era.
How NZ Warriors can flow with injury/suspension niggle in their backline...
Fullback
Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad and Taine Tuaupiki are both NRL fullbacks. Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Te Maire Martin can plug the hole mid-game.
Wing
Three NRL wingers in Tuivasa-Sheck, Dallin Watene-Zelezniak and Alofiana Khan-Pereira. Tuaupiki played wing last year, Adam Pompey covered wing mid-game last year. Haizyn Mellars, Sio Kali and Daeon Amituanai offer younger depth pushing for a debut.
Centre
Three NRL centres in Pompey, Rocco Berry and Ali Leiataua. Nicoll-Klokstad has done well at centre for NZW and Kiwis, so he can cover this role easily in all scenarios. Kurt Capewell and Leka Halasima can plug the hole mid-game, even Eddie Ieremia-Toeava in an emergency. That should be enough but there is also Kali and his best role is centre, highlighting the flexibility available as he can debut at wing or centre.
Half
Four NRL halves in Luke Metcalf, Chanel Harris-Tavita, Te Maire Martin and Tanah Boyd. That’s ample depth already and then there are Luke Hanson and Jett Cleary on the rise.
New Zealand Warriors NRL-ish Depth Chart For The 2025/26 Summer
Exploring The Depths Of The 2026 New Zealand Warriors Top-50ish
2025/26 Kiwi-NRL Train & Trial Breakdown
Musical jam...
Nick’s Notebook
The Wellington Phoenix keep on rocking between hope and despair. The blokes are on a WLLWLW streak that spirals back and forth… making for one heck of an introduction to pro footy for 18yo goalkeeper Eamonn McCarron - who has experienced a 5-1 loss and a 3-0 win in his first two starts. The ladies started steadily, then did their usual narrow away defeat thing, then burst into fantastic form over the last few matches. But the ALW squad has now lost Samba for the rest of the season, the Nepalese cult hero (who has 3 goals and 2 assists around 500 mins of footy this season) tearing her ACL late in the draw against Brisbane to put a dampener on their turnaround.
That’s the third ACL injury suffered by the team this year, following Tessel Middag and Alyssa Whinham. Weirdly, all three injuries were suffered in-game during the only three draws the team has had this year. It’s four ACLs if you include Hideki Ishige from the men’s team. Every new signing, men or women, that arrives at the Nix talks up their world class facilities but this club seems to be stuck in a permanent injury crisis. Hmmm.
Sabitra Bhandari had been fantastic lately, not only for the club but for the entire league by bringing in her own surge of fans. The Nix have always struggled for a striker with that kind of mentality, someone who is desperate to score and create goals, and there’s no easy fix to losing a player like that. In terms of combined xG and xA per ninety minutes this season, only Melbourne City’s Holly McNamara exceeds what Samba’s been up to. This is a huge loss for a team that’s been struggling for their clinical final product (even the 7-0 win vs Sydney involved two OGs and two set pieces goals... and of the other three, two were scored by Samba).
But they have done the best thing possible by adding an injury replacement import in American forward Makala Woods. Nowhere near as experienced as Samba, Woods is 23 years old though crucially (and unlike a couple of the previous Nix import signings from America) this won’t be her first professional club. Originally she was a left-back but during her college career they moved her to the front line where she seems to have excelled. Then last year she moved to Iceland where she scored six times in 19 appearances for Tindastóll – very good numbers considering she was at a team that finished second to last. This is the same level that Betsy Hassett plays at... in fact Makala Woods scored against Hassett’s Stjarnan last April.
Important factor here: Woods profiles more as a winger than a centre-forward. This isn’t a direct Samba replacement, the fact she’s already in the house means this was in the works long before Bhandari’s injury. They did begin the season with two CAMs and a CF and pivoted more recently with Emma Main and Samba together up top. There’s no obvious striker aside from Main in this squad (just go sign Maggie Jenkins already, damn)... though the likes of Pia Vlok, Brooke Nunn, and Makala Woods could all offer something there as hybrids.
Expected Goals + Expected Assists per 90 for Wellington Phoenix ALW
Sabitra Bhandari – 0.75
Emma Main – 0.44
Manaia Elliott – 0.42
Grace Jale – 0.33
Pia Vlok – 0.32
Brooke Nunn – 0.28
Lara Wall – 0.22
Marisa van der Meer – 0.11
(minimum 300 mins played)
But wait there’s more because the Welly Nix blokes just signed Bill Tuiloma. Magnificent mid-season addition following eight years in the USA for Tuiloma (as well as becoming Aotearoa’s first French Ligue 1 representative back with OM Marseille in 2024-15... under the tutelage of coach Marcelo Bielsa). It’ll be a huge pay cut from Tui after being on veteran’s wages in MLS but that’s cool, he’s earned his money and now he gets to play footy for the love of it. This will be the first time he’s played for a local club since he was a teenager. I just wrote some paragraphs on the women’s team so I’ll keep this to bullet points...
Tuiloma probably could have gotten another MLS deal but after two years being mostly stuck on the bench with Charlotte FC, you can understand him taking a step back to amplify his own opportunities. Especially at a club where he can feel at home and be a key player.
Obviously the World Cup is a factor in this... Tui’s chasing that back-up RB selection (he won’t play there for the Nix but Bazeley isn’t going to be fussed as long as he’s playing somewhere) and all of the major candidates, including incumbent starter Tim Payne who is now his teammate, are currently playing in the A-League. Callan Elliot, Storm Roux, maybe even Sam Sutton or Matt Sheridan or Corban Piper too. We know that Baze values experience and Tuiloma seemed to nudge into the front-runner spot by starting against Colombia and Ecuador on the last tour in Payne’s absence.
He’s signed a 2.5yr contract though, so this isn’t purely about World Cup selection. That’s one priority but he’s made a serious commitment beyond that – meaning that Tuiloma and Tim Payne (U17 World Cup teammates from 2011) are the only players above the current age of 21 who are signed up for the season after next.
I reckon Tuiloma’s best position is CB in a back four where things are more condensed and his physical strength is better utilised. No sweat about him in a back three though. Billy T’s easily skilled enough to do that job, probably as the RCB, and his mahi as a fullback in recent years will help with the high line aspects (in other words, he’s used to defending after being turned around). Don’t overlook his excellent passing range too. In many ways he’s a better version of Manjrekar James (or Billy T James as that duo is now known).
Buuuut he’s not that fast, so that existing issue will remain for this Nix backline. He’s also very prone to muscle injuries. If he doesn’t miss any games with hamstring complaints over the rest of the season then I’ll be pleasantly impressed and surprised.
What his previous club never understood, despite trading for him, is that Tuiloma’s x-factor comes at set piece time. He can score direct free kicks and he’s absolutely tremendous winning headers from crosses. Whatever the number of games that he missed through injury is, he’ll exceed that number for goals that he scores. Even at MLS level, he was one of the best in the business. The trade-off is that he can be error prone at the back, particularly with marking and close-out lapses, yet he more than makes up for it with the attacking input. Charlotte FC ignored that side of his game and expected him to be a silky, flawless, central defender and when he wasn’t… they pretty much benched him for two years (before an injury crisis earned him a short stint at RB).
Players from the 2011 U17 World Cup squad who went on to get All Whites caps:
Tim Payne (47 caps), Bill Tuiloma (47), Cam Howieson (21), Kip Colvey (15), Luke Adams (5), Harshae Raniga (1)
Three of them only got caps under Anthony Hudson which barely even counts… but looking through other squads, six senior internationals from one U17 WC squad is actually a pretty great turnout. The hit-rate tends to be pretty low at that age, it’s the U20s which is much more telling… and the U20 WC squad from 2013 added Ryan Thomas, Max Crocombe, Storm Roux, Tyler Boyd, Justin Gulley, and Louis Fenton to the list (at the expense of Colvey and Raniga).
2025 Women’s National League – Team of the Season
2025 Men’s National League – Team of the Season
Looks like today’s email segment is going to be all about football transfers because just this morning they confirmed the final squads for the OFC Pro League and there were some funky surprises.
Since I last wrote about this, Auckland FC have grabbed a couple more National League players, including Aidan Carey and Reid Drake from Western Springs, and also Nathan Lobo from Auckland City. Jonathan Robinson, an American import left-back from Western Suburbs, is there too. As is James Bayliss – the brother of Lachlan Bayliss, Newcastle Jets midfielder, who went to the Olympics with Aotearoa in 2024.
Oh yeah and Kiwi-Swede goal-scoring maestro Oscar Faulds (back after a year in Sweden) and defensive utility Ronan Wynne (brother of Deklan, who spent last year in the Atlanta United system after being drafted... then was unceremoniously cut just one year later despite being a key player for their Next Pro team) have also been included. Couple fascinating additions there.
South Island United had basically already announced their whole squad. Yesterday they added Christian ‘El Profesor’ Gray to the list because why not, he’s a man for the big occasion after all. Aussie forward Deen Hasanovic is also in amongst. So that’s them sorted, here are the full squad lists for the two kiwi clubs...
Auckland FC in the OPL:
South Island United in the OPL:
New Zealanders At Other OPL Clubs
Matt Foord – Bula FC
Adam Supyk – Bula FC
Fergus Gillion – Bula FC
Luka Coveny – South Melbourne
Ishveer Singh – South Melbourne
Otto Ingham – Vanuatu FC
Owen Smith – Vanuatu FC
Bula FC also has a good array of Fijian players who’ve played in NZ, from Roy Krishna to Semi Nabenu to Thomas Dunn and Sterling Vasconcellos. Raphael Leai is playing for the Solomon Islands team which is cool to see. Coveny and Singh weren’t previously announced so those a sneaky additions, Coveny being the son of All Whites legend Vaughan and a former Western United scholarship player until that went balls-up. Singh is a young striker who has come up the ranks at Auckland United. Wasn’t even a regular starter for them in National League so that’s a really funky one. Check the full squad list here.
And in arguably the biggest transfer news of the day, Football Ferns forward Jacqui Hand has joined FC Basel for the second half of the Swiss season... and also the two after that. Her contract will run through to mid-2028 and they’ve given her the #8 jersey. This follows stints at Åland United in Finland, Lewes and Sheffield United in England, and Kolbotn in Norway. Considering she went to college in the USA before that and she must be one of our most travelled footballers. Gotta do what you’ve gotta do to make a living in this sport.
The last three clubs that Hand played for all got relegated (Sheff Utd did get a reprieve to stay in the English second tier but that was afterwards). Three relegations on the trot... even though she did her darndest to keep Kolbotn up last year with some very good form alongside Liz Anton and Liv Chance. Fortunately, she shouldn’t get relegated at FC Basel. Probably won’t win trophies but FCB have been a solid upper-mid-table club in Switzerland for many years. Former home of Ria Percival once upon a time. We’ve also got Lara Colpi playing for FC Thun-Berner in this same division (her team has 1 point from 10 games so they probably will be relegated, although in this league they can save themselves via playoffs).
There would have been a case for Hand to ponder an A-League stint at this stage of her career, having struggled to find a consistent home in Europe. But the way she performed in Finland and Norway proved that she’s got the goods to hang about, even if her efforts in England were less rewarded. Switzerland should be closer to the Scandi style than the English style, giving her a little more room to dribble. Nice to see another Ferns forward sticking it out in Europe – the Swiss league is considered weaker than the Norwegian one where she was but she’ll be playing for a much more competitive team which balances out. This is another case of the Flying Kiwis Three Factor Verification rule:
Factor 1: How strong is the league?
Factor 2: Are they getting good minutes?
Factor 3: Are they performing well?
If you can tick two of the three boxes then we’re sweet, no need to worry about anything else. People are always so itchy to see kiwi players make upwards transfers when the main target should be finding a stable situation in which they can grow and develop and challenge themselves. Just because they could play at a higher level doesn’t mean they should... and it definitely doesn’t mean they need to. The national team benefits most from active, confident players.
Musical Jam...
