Closely Monitoring with Registered Interest
Sarpreet Singh transfer chat, NRLW signings, Kiwi-NRL deep cuts, Sam Waardenburg signs with Cairns, some Breakers updates & Matt Garbett's agents strike again
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Podcast
Reading Menu
All Whites vs Costa Rica: Final Words from the Scouting Notebook (Football)
Kiwi-NRL Spotlight: Raiders vs Roosters Kiwi-NRL Extravaganza (NRL)
Flying Kiwis – June 7 (Football)
Flying Kiwis – Paying Respects To Career Year Bill Tuiloma (Football)
Turns Out Trent Boult Is The Best Number 11 In Test Cricket (Cricket)
The Many Wrinkles Of Glenn Phillips' Move To Otago Volts (Cricket)
The Differing Fates of Junior Fa, Hemi Ahio & David Nyika at Kambosos vs Haney (Cricket)
Scotty’s Word
NRLWahine signings continue to flow ahead of the second campaign this year. Broncos have added Annetta Nu'uausala and Crystal Tamarua to their squad, joining Broncos stalwarts Amber Hall and Lavinia Gould. Nu'uausala won a bunch of awards for Newcastle Knights in their debut campaign this year and joins Hall and Tamarua as high quality NRLWahine forwards at the best NRLW club.
Knights appear to be purging their hefty NRLWahine crew from the last season as they fill their squad with more local players. Kiwi Fern Kiana Takairangi (born and raised in Sydney) joins the Knights along with Tiana Davison who was playing Farah Palmer Cup for Taranaki last year. Davison has also played plenty of Sevens and the NRLWahine crew is now bolstered by two wahine moving directly from union in Aotearoa to NRLW (Gayle Broughton too)
Autumn-Rain Stephens-Daly is the only NRLWahine player still at Knights from the campaign earlier this year and while they might sign a few more, Nu'uausala has already lefty for Broncos. While Broughton appears locked in for fullback with Eels, I'm not sure what Davison's best position will be for Knights. These players not only add NRLWahine numbers, but they join the Kiwi Ferns pool and that squad is only getting stronger.
Many NRLWahine players were with NZ Warriors prior to the pandemic and this provides further insights into the battle Warriors have faced. The last Warriors NRLW team was basically an Aussie-Warriors team so that doesn't factor in here, but with no Warriors NRLW team in these recent seasons all these players have to find opportunities elsewhere. The Warriors junior stuff on their blokes side lost SG Ball and NSW Cup teams only due to the pandemic, limiting the number of players in the Warriors system.
Warriors didn't let lots of juniors/reserve graders leave because they stunk at recruitment or development; they just went from having 40-odd spots below NRL to 15-20.
Much of the Warriors stuff I see in headlines feels to stem from stress. Some of this is putting on a brave face, no excuses. Much of the weird stuff (owners spinning yarns etc, whipping up drama) can be traced back to a short fuse where the club has battled pandemic niggle for almost three seasons and everyone wants it to be over. Ponder how pesky you can be after a bad sleep, then a stressful morning - that's NZ Warriors existence.
Kristian Woolf is my best NZ Warriors coaching option. Woolf has a proven record of connection with Polynesian players through is mahi with Tonga, as well as a hearty connection with Addin Fonua-Blake. Woolf has coached at every level from juniors in Queensland, reserve grade, NRL assistant gigs and now coaching St Helens in England.
All the other candidates are old Aussie blokes. Woolf is fresh and vibrant. Woolf has worked his way up the coaching ladder and should be given time/space to set up his system at Aotearoa Warriors.
Michael Maguire's exit from Wests Tigers is fantastic for Aotearoa Kiwis, though a bit of a bummer for Kiwi-NRL matters at Tigers. Maguire can now focus all his energy on Aotearoa Kiwis mahi in a World Cup year and I believe his connection to Aotearoa Kiwis players is evident in how many of the elite players are churning out career-best mahi. Joseph Tapine and Joseph Manu were bonkers in Raiders vs Roosters last weekend for example.
All Maguire can do is Kiwis mahi and he will connect further with players ahead of the upcoming squad news to play Tonga - Woolf won't be coaching that game with Wayne Bennett stepping in to guide caretaker coach Dean Young. Most importantly, getting out of the toxic NRL media cycle will do wonders for Maguire's vibe.
Here are a couple Kiwi-NRL deep cuts...
Jonah Palota-Kopa is named at centre for Manly Sea Eagles U21s. Palota-Kopa has been in the Sea Eagles system since at least 2018 while also at St Paul's College in Auckland and must have been out injured for a while as he only played three Jersey Flegg games in 2021. High quality NZRL representative player scouted and developed by Aussie club while at school in Aotearoa, now Palota-Kopa is back in the mix.
Ofahiki Ogden is named to start alongside Wiremu Greig as props for Eels NSW Cup. Ogden is a Mangere East junior who made a nice exit from Bulldogs to Eels last summer, while Greig is from Whangarei and he left Cowboys for Eels early last season. Eels are among the best NRL clubs at player development and I'm curious how this looks for Ogden and Greig.
Paul Turner gets a crack in the halves for Titans. Turner left Warriors for Titans over the summer and has been playing fullback for Tweed Heads in Q Cup, alongside older brother Lee (from Northland). Turner could have a decent crack at this halves gig as Jayden Campbell is out with a long term injury and Turner's running game feels nicely suited to Toby Sexton's typical halfback play.
Lydia Ko is listed to play the LPGA Classic in New Jersey this weekend. Since the start of April Ko has results of T18, T3, T12 and 5th. Don't buzz about whether Ko wins a tournament as her consistency is highly enjoyable right now and just like the daily mahi grind, consistency will only amplify Ko's elite LPGA status.
Henry Nicholls seems likely to return to Aotearoa's 1st 11 for the second Test against England. Nicholls has scored a century and one 50+ score in four consecutive years of Test batting. That can be twisted negatively as Nicholls has had at least 6inns in each of these years with just two 50+ scores. It can also be twisted positively as Nicholls already has his century and 50+ score this year - same mahi in fewer Tests.
Neil Wagner also seems likely to return. Wagner's last 10 games starts with the second Test vs England last year which means Wagner has played 10 games in a year. That's avant-garde cricket for you and while Wagner took 15w @ 27.86 in Tests last summer, he went 0/64 (Plunket Shield) and 0/59 (warm up game in England) in his last two games.
Wagner has taken 10+ wickets with averages below 30 in four consecutive years and his 23.04 bowling average under skipper Kane Williamson is notably better than any other Blackcaps captain Wagner has played under.
White Ferns Commonwealth Games squad is not an accurate representation of the best wahine T20 cricketers in Aotearoa. We knew that would be the case with the contracts dished out and new coach Ben Sawyer was not going to impact squad selection days after being announced as White Ferns coach.
Energy is precious and spinning yarns about who deserves squad selection etc is wasted energy at the moment. That bridge will be crossed over the domestic summer when cricket fans and coach Sawyer see for themselves who the best players are - right now I'm pondering what this squad could do at the (Colonizer) games. This doesn't feel like a medal-winning squad.
England, Australia, India and South Africa will also feature at the games. Pakistan played in the last World Cup and hopefully continue their development but are unlikely to compete for a medal. This White Ferns squad probably won't win a medal when England, Australia and South Africa will all be fizzing with experienced squads - Australia's squad is basically the same as their World Cup squad!
I keep chucking Black Sticks wahine in with White Ferns as I believe they are in similar sporting zones. Black Sticks will have a World Cup before the Com Games and have a better chance at winning a medal than White Ferns, however they will struggle at the World Cup.
Black Ferns face Canada on Sunday, then USA the following weekend. The win over Australia was lovely and we will keep learning about Black Ferns, plus wahine rugby with this Canada fixture. Aotearoa footy bias suggests Black Ferns should win these games and that's where we learn.
Wildcard’s Notebook
Sarpreet Singh to Werder Bremen?
Big yarns boiling in the Flying Kiwis Transfer Season pot as Sarpreet Singh is, according to reports in Germany, on the brink of a permanent move to Werder Bremen. The same club that he made his Bundesliga debut against back in December 2019 and the same club that one of his major mentors Wynton Rufer won the German title with in 1992-93 (and also tied for the European Cup golden boot one year).
Rufer remains a legend at Werder Bremen so it’s little surprise that they’ve gotten Sarpreet Singh in their sights. Singh still has one year to run on his Bayern Munich contract but he was out on loan in the second tier with Jahn Regensburg all last season and has been injured since February. The question was never would Bayern Munich find a place for him in the first team. They’re onto their third manager since Singh joined and are currently trying to sign Sadio Mane according to the gossip. Singh was good in the second tier, very good at times, but that still leaves a large developmental distance to be covered between mid-table second tier and the best team in the land.
The question instead was: which club and at what level would he be playing? He’s way too good for Bayern’s reserves so would he be able to find a lower-half Bundesliga team to take a punt on his prospects or would it be another 2.Liga club that came calling? In the end he’s sorta done both. Werder Bremen were relegated two seasons ago, spending the most recent term in the second tier where Singh both scored and assisted against them in a match last December. But they were good enough to finish second in the second tier and be promoted straight back up. A whole lot of cosmic symmetry to this deal, folks.
Werder CEO Klaus Filbry spoke at a club charity event recently claiming that: “We will announce another transfer shortly, this time in the attacking areas. We have a very exciting, creative player who will come to us.”
You can probably guess who that player is by now. The one drama here is that the way Werder have been setting up under coach Ole Werner has tended to involve a 3-5-2 formation. That doesn’t exactly suit Singh who spent the majority of his Regensburg days playing as a winger. You can’t use him as a wing-back because that’s too defensive. There isn’t a ten in this shape. He could play as an eight but that’s not entirely his bag. Nor is playing as a centre-forward though that’s gotta be another option.
Then again, they club seems to be making a point of signing attacking players this window so maybe they’re planning on being more expansive in the top flight where Werder can afford to take more risks, in a funny way. It may be a higher level against better teams but in the second tier the pressure was on to win game after game and earn promotion. In the Bundesliga the aim will initially be to simply avoid relegation, allowing for more of a developmental aim. And, like, let’s be honest, they wouldn’t be signing a player they didn’t have a plan for, would they?
Also gotta add that Wynton Rufer ain’t the only kiwi international to have worn the Werder Bremen colours... Footy Ferns attacker Jana Radosavljević played 19 times for the women’s team in the 2020-21 season, scoring two goals featuring mostly as a wing-back. But then she got injured and they didn’t re-sign her.
Word on the street is a 4yr deal for Singh, by the way. With a fee of around $300-400k (which is less than what Bayern initially paid for him - not that they care, the profits they make on selling one star player to a Premier League/La Liga club covers losses on a hundred Sarpreet Singh level dudes).
Sam Waardenburg Joins The NBL Brigade
Love a bit of this as kiwi big man Sam Waardenburg has signed a 2yr deal with the Cairns Taipans on the back of his impressive USA college career with University of Miami. Waardenburg played mostly as the main centre for the Hurricanes this past season as they made it all the way to the elite eight at the NCAA tournament, the school’s best ever progression.
With that you know he was delivering the usual defence and rebound stuff that kiwi ballers tend to thrive with but SW is a more skilled player than that. He averaged 8.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists & 1.3 blocks per game across the full term not only did he lead his team in blocks but he also led them in three point percentage too, shooting a ridiculous 46% from deep. He’s 23 years old and already has two masters degrees. He was a Rangitoto College student back in the day.
Suffice to say that every team in the NBL should have been chasing him... and it’s the Cairns Taipans who’ve managed to get that signature. The press release makes it really sound like they went hard for the bloke. Coach Adam Forde referred to him as “a top priority”. Best case scenario here is another kiwi Rookie of the Year candidate like Yanni Wetzell was two seasons ago.
Breakers Roster Updates
Some curious NBL stuff going on elsewhere. Izayah Mauriohooho-Le’afa opted into his player option with South East Melbourne Phoenix a few weeks back but in the past few days has requested a release on personal grounds which has been granted. Wanted to return home to Aotearoa. That’s the reason given by SEM... which sure sounds an awful lot like the Breakers have been hovering around.
Does seem kinda sneaky to be trying to sign contracted players from other teams but that greasiness is at least offset by the fact that the Breakers are remaining committed to putting their money where Mody Maor’s mouth is in terms of rebuilding the kiwi core of the club. Le’afa would be a superb addition to the roster, bringing many of the same qualities that Shea Ili offers and we know how that one’s worked out for the Breakers since they made the blatant mistake of releasing Ili a few years back.
Coincidentally (probably not) around the same time as Le’afa was released, the Breakers announced that they’d signed up Aussie shooter Cam Gliddon on a one-year deal. Gliddon who played last season for... the South East Melbourne Phoenix.
Good signing too. Gliddon is coming off a relatively poor term with the Phoenix in which he shot just 40.4% from the field in around 17 mins per game. Still hit at 36.8% from deep but he’s certainly capable of more. The Breakers need three-point shooters badly so they’re in a position to bank on the 32yo bouncing back with his jump shot, plus he adds immeasurable veteran leadership to the roster which is something that has been severely lacking the last couple terms outside of Tom Abercrombie.
All good signs from the Breakers on those fronts, particularly if they can get the Mauriohooho-Le’afa thing over the line. But the Breakers being the Breakers we’ve still gotta expect a certain level of annoyance so naturally they’ve also gone back to the well with another Next Star. As reported by Adrian Wojnarowski because of course it’s way more important that the global audience get this news first...
Actually that’s probably more to do with agents playing games, knowing how Woj tends to work. Either way the Breakers are kinda being used.
Rayan Rupert is a French wing who currently stands at 6’7 having only just turned 18 years of age. That’s the same age as Ousmane Dieng was for his Breakers season (OD has since turned 19). Hugo Besson turned 21 in April so he’s a couple years older.
It’s clear what the Breakers see in their Next Star signings but there‘s very little evidence that giving teenagers big minutes in the NBL is in any way helpful for winning basketball games. No matter how much the overseas scouts may talk them up. Remember: scouts aren’t looking at the same things that we are.
But anyway that’s were that’s at. This is what the Breakers roster looks like as it stands:
Tom Abercrombie, Rob Loe, Sam Timmins, Will McDowell-White, Dan Fotu, Tom Vodanovich, Cam Gliddon & Rayon Rupert
That’s seven rostered players plus the bonus Next Star. Can sign three imports so Mauriohooho-Le’afa would be the last local outside of development players. Decent haul though if that’s the case.
Matt Garbett Areas
Don’t click the link because it’s on The S*n. I’ve already read it so you don’t have to.
Suffice to say that Matty Garbett’s agents have been hard at work yet again – for someone who hasn’t exactly played an abundance of senior professional football yet he sure seems to find himself involved in an awful lot of transfer rumours. His ratio of games to teams reportedly monitoring him is nuts.
The transfer yarns were common while he was at Falkenberg in Sweden. Basically any time he hit a new milestone in his career there’d be another Premier League team showing interest. Now he’s had a strong showing against Peru and what do you know? Lather, rinse, repeat. Which isn’t to say that the rumours have zero substance to them... merely that this is a pattern that’s almost certainly instigated by his agency.
For reference, here’s a brief history of Matt Garbett transfer rumours...
6 June 2020 – Football Insider 24/7 (Wayne Veysey)
Headline: Exclusive: Man City set sights on signing Everton-wanted striker after agent deal agreed
Summary: Manchester City are “closely monitoring”. Everton previously mentioned as having “interest”. The two clubs now involved in a “race to sign” then 18yo Garbs.
Instigating Factor: Signing with New Era Global Sports as his new representatives
29 July 2021 – The S*n (Philip Cadden)
Headline: BETT ON PREM DEAL - Watford, Crystal Palace and Brentford in Matthew Garbett transfer fight as New Zealand star, 19, impresses at Olympics
Summary: Watford, Crystal Palace, and Brentford “keeping tabs”.
Instigating Factor: Olympic group stage form, with the OlyWhites progressing to the knockouts
4 August 2021 – The Express (Ryan Taylor)
Headline: Olympics holding up several potential Premier League deals
Summary: Brentford and Watford “watched” him play for the “All Blacks” at the Olympics
Instigating Factor: Overall form at Tokyo 2020 following quarterfinal shootout elimination
25 August 2021 - Football Insider 24/7 (Wayne Veysey)
Headline: Sources: Club have bid accepted for Brentford, Crystal Palace and Watford target Garbett
Summary: Brentford, Crystal Palace and Watford all “registered their interest” but were “beaten” to the signing by Serie A club Torino
Instigating Factor: Transferred to Torino… which none of these other rumours seem to have anticipated, oddly
8 June 2022 – The S*n (Philip Cadden)
Headline: BETT ON A MOVE – Everton, Leicester and Wolves in three-way transfer fight for Torino’s 20-year-old New Zealand rising star Matt Garbett
Summary: Leicester City, Wolves, Everton are “tracking”, Sevilla are “keeping tabs”, Al Ain have him “on their radar”. Also scouts from LCFC, Everton & Sevilla “all due to attend” the Costa Rica vs NZ match
Instigating Factor: A good performance for NZ against Peru
Those are the major ones for now but you can bet your arse that if the All Whites qualify for the World Cup with a win over Costa Rica then there’ll be more in a hurry. Also as if you didn’t already have enough reasons to despite The S*n as an organisation... how about the fact that they used the same godawful ‘Bett’ pun in both of those stories? Same author too. Shambles.