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Women's World Cup patterns, Warriors ball runners, NRWL standouts, Erika Fairweather, Hemi Ahio, Matt Henry, plus another domestic football roundup
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Football Ferns at the 2023 FIFA World Cup: Sweet Delectable Victory vs Norway (Football)
Football Ferns at the 2023 FIFA World Cup: Deeper Yarns From The Norway Win (Football)
Recapping Tall Ferns Exploits at the 2023 Asia Cup (Basketball)
10 NZNBL Players Who Deserve A Crack In The Aussie NBL (Basketball)
White Ferns Stumble In ODI Series Loss vs Sri Lanka (Cricket)
Same Old White Ferns In T20I Series Win vs Sri Lanka (Cricket)
Winter Notes & Nuggs For Each Domestic Cricket Team (Cricket)
Scotty’s Word
A quick update is required from the NZ Warriors vs Raiders debrief. The running stats for Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad weren’t up to date. Now they are and Nicoll-Klokstad is in elite company.
Here are the most runs for NRL players who have played at least five games...
Dylan Edwards: 389 runs, 21.61 per game
Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad: 356 runs, 20.94 per game
Jahream Bula: 240 runs, 20 per game
Tom Trbojevic: 219 runs, 19.91 per game
Greg Marzhew: 267 runs, 19.07 per game
Nicoll-Klokstad consistently takes two runs in a set for Warriors, especially in the Warriors half. While he may not dent the line with every run, he'll pop up to take another run and will probably slide between defenders.
Warriors also have Marcelo Montoya averaging 16.68 runs per game. Nicoll-Klokstad is 2nd behind Edwards for total runs and Montoya is 3rd. Addin Fonua-Blake averages 16.26 runs per game and is ranked 6th for total runs. Byes are a factor here, but Warriors are the only team with three players in the top-10 for total runs and all three average 16+ runs per game.
Panthers defeated Bulldogs (Andrew Webster > Cameron Ciraldo) off the back of a first half blitz. Panthers scored four tries in the first 20 minutes with James Fisher-Harris and Moses Leota dominating as starting props. Both left the field in the 27th minute after blasting through the Bulldogs middle and they returned for 12-15 minutes later in the game. Finishing with...
James Fisher-Harris: 17 runs - 170 @ 10m/run, 59 post contact metres @ 3.4pcm/run
Moses Leota: 14 runs - 130m @ 9.2m/run, 57 post contact metres @ 4pcm/run
These lads are the best prop duo in the NRL. Back to back NRL championships tell you all you need to know about that and they are hunting a third.
How did Alexis Tauaneai perform in her first NRLW game? NRLW games are 70mins and Tauaneai played 52mins as a middle forward in the Dragons loss to Knights. Full stat line...
52mins, 12 runs - 124m @ 10.3m/run, 3 tackle busts, 31 tackles @ 88.5%
Wainuiomata junior Tauaneai is 18-years-old.
Tyla Nathan-Wong scored a try for Dragons as well.
Laishon Albert-Jones got injured in that game, while Abigail Roache joins Tauaneai and a crop of young NRLWahine who impressed. Roache scored a try and was solid at centre for Knights. Mackenzie Wiki also stood out at centre for Raiders in their loss to Sharks, hanging out on their right edge. Madison Bartlett scored two tries on the left edge for Raiders, combining with Apii Nicholls then Cheyelle Robins-Reti for Aotearoa flavour.
Sharks were too powerful for Raiders though and their NRLWahine played funky roles in their physicality. Harata Butler was shuffled into the starting line up for 30mins with 7 runs - 103m @ 14.7m/run and 10 tackles @ 100% in a dominant display. Annessa Biddle also flexed on the wing for Sharks with 11 runs - 105m @ 9.5m/run and 52pcm - the most for all backs in this game.
Big opening round for Otara with Biddle shining and Leianne Tufuga scoring two tries for Tigers.
Mele Hufanga's first game of NRLW...
10 runs - 167m @ 16.7m/run, 7 tackle busts, 6 tackles @ 75%.
Hufanga's Broncos lost to Roosters. Tafito Lafaele didn't play for Broncos, Gayle Broughton and Annetta Nu'uausala did. Roosters had Mya Hill-Moana dominating the middle as always, with Amber Hall battling injury and Otesa Pule coming off the bench.
Quick NRLWahine Team of the Week. Wiki plugs a hole at edge forward because she was so good and there is a hole to plug. Plus there are plenty of centres available.
Fullback: Apii Nicholls (Titans)
Wings: Annessa Biddle (Sharks), Madison Bartlett (Raiders)
Centres: Leianne Tufuga (Tigers), Mele Hufanga (Broncos)
Halves: Raecene McGregor (Dragons), Tyla Nathan-Wong (Broncos)
Middles: Mya Hill-Moana (Roosters), Harata Butler (Sharks), Annetta Nu'uausala (Broncos)
Edges: Otesa Pule (Roosters), Mackenzie Wiki (Raiders)
Matt Henry took 8w in Somerset's win over Northamptonshire and continues to lead the Kiwi County Tour funk. Henry took 3w then 5w, coming after 7w on the same day of T20 Blast finals (semi-final then final). Peep how similar Henry's County Championship mahi is to his Plunket Shield campaign last summer...
County Championship: 26w @ 16.84avg/2.95rpo
22/23 Plunket Shield: 23w @ 11.69avg/2rpo
(T20 Blast: 31w @ 13.25avg/7.85rpo)
Musical jam...
Wildcard’s Notebook
Here’s a weird World Cup happening: prior to today’s games, there’d not yet been a single team to exceed their expected goals stat with actual goals. New Zealand weren’t too far off with one goal from 1.7 xG but they missed a penalty in there to spoil things. Even teams that won handily such as Spain, Japan, and USA all should have scored more than they did. Denmark were closest winning 1-0 vs China with a 1.1 xG.
Not sure why that is but I have some theories. Ria Percival’s not the only one to miss a penalty which hasn’t helped matters. Could also be something about the xG measurement being based off men’s footy and therefore not such an accurate measurement for women (I don’t know either way but wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the case). Also it’s the first game of the tournament for everyone coming a couple months after many of them ended their European club seasons so some garden variety rust could well be the main factor. Lots of dodgy finishing... but I don’t expect that to last. Particularly from teams like USA and England.
(England could fix their conversion rate in a hurry if they simply picked Rachel Daly at striker, just sayin’)
It’s also true that a lot of these apparent minnow teams have turned up with really good defensive structures that are causing unexpected problems for more favoured opponents. Ireland did it to Australia. Haiti did it to England. South Africa against Sweden (even if they couldn’t hang on). Nigeria vs Canada. Jamaica vs France. Even Vietnam put up a much tougher scrap against the USA than anyone thought they would, only losing 3-0 although that game pretty much entirely took place in their defensive half. Likewise, I’ve never seen a more one-sided 3-0 win than what Spain did to Costa Rica.
Not so long ago, Hemi Ahio was an unbeaten kiwi heavyweight boxer with an eye on stepping up into those upper echelons. Then he suffered a surprise defeat against Django Opelu for his first defeat and we had to pump the brakes for a bit. But since then Opelu has gone on to fight Joseph Parker (he got wrecked in the first round but it’s still notable context for Ahio’s loss that he was even in the ring with a former champ) while Hemi The Hammer has cleaned up a couple more victories. In February he bounced back with a first round TKO of Richie Stanley in Auckland but it was this weekend when the comeback truly happened.
Ahio fought Amron Sands (USA, 12-2 as a pro) in an eight-round bout and he dropped him in the sixth for the win. This was in Oklahoma on the undercard of the George Kambosos Jr vs Maxi Hughes bout – the third time he’s been part of a Kambosos event following a pair of fights in Melbourne (including the Opelu loss). Apparently Ahio was dealing with a broken nose from a sparring session which affected his breathing but you couldn’t tell from the way he cleaned up Sands to move to 21-1. Back on the horse.
There’s even chat that Ahio might now face Joseph Parker next. Parker is likely to fight on the October card for Brother Tyson Fury’s gimmick event against former UFC champ Francis Ngannou. Dangerous Dave Higgins has been talking to the media about the prospect anyway, name-checking Ahio and also Australian Joe Goodall as possibilities. Goodall also had a win on that same Kambosos card on the weekend and is 10-1 with his only loss coming against Justis Huni.
Got another one for ya here: we’re one year away from an Olympic Games and 19yo Erika Fairweather just became only the fifth woman in history to swim the 400m freestyle in under 4 minutes. This was at the World Swimming Championships and unfortunately two of the others, Ariarne Titmus and Katie Ledecky, were also racing so Fairweather had to settle for a bronze medal... but she’ll take that come Paris 2024 no doubt about it. Titmus broke the world record in the same race.
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Weekly Domestic Footy Roundup...
A week ago Auckland United’s women’s team were the first club side to book a National League ticket for 2023. The Women’s NRFL Prem just had a week off in light of the World Cup but the fellas didn’t rest so we can add a couple more clubs to the end of season jaunts: Auckland City and Eastern Suburbs.
The two runaway leaders of the Northern League had some tough mahi to slog through on Saturday but Auckland City were able to win 1-0 away to Melville courtesy of a Joe Lee goal early in the second half, while Eastern Suburbs edged relegation-zoned Manukau United 1-0 with Ryan Verney scoring the only goal at around the same time as ACFC got theirs. Encouraging signs in defeat for Melville and especially Manukau but with 44 points each and six games remaining there’s officially no chance that ACFC or Subs finish any lower than third now. National League ahoy.
(Note that Ryan De Vries’ consecutive game scoring streak has come to an end at 12 matches across all comps)
Auckland United were able to stretch their buffer in third thanks to a 4-1 win over Bay Olympic. However there was a change in fourth place as Western Springs lost 3-2 to Hamilton Wanderers (they were 3-0 down after 23 minutes) which allowed Manurewa to leapfrog them back with a 4-0 win away to Takapuna. That also meant that all three teams in the relegation hunt lost again... thus West Coast Rangers are pretty much safe with a 10-point gap to the drop zone after upsetting Birkenhead United 2-1 at home. They were down at the break but goals to Addison Stewart (48’) and Joshua Armitt (69’) earned them the win.
Almost clinching a Natty League place themselves this week was Christchurch United. Ain’t no stopping them after a 3-1 win against Dunedin City Royals. They were still stuck at 1-1 with twenty to go but Sam Philip (74’) and Eoghan Stokes (84’) added to Matt Todd-Smith’s earlier goal to see them right. Only Coastal Spirit’s 3-2 win over Green Island stopped the Rams from having guaranteed a top two spot already. One more point will do it though, plus with Cashmere Technical only drawing 1-1 vs Nomads, Christchurch Utd are seven points clear in first with a game in hand. Still unbeaten, might I add. Notable win for Nelson Suburbs over Ferrymead Bays in there too – keeping it tight in the middle of the ladder.
Time for some Central League now where there were a couple of fascinating results. For one thing, Petone not only beat leaders Wellington Olympic… they whupped them 4-0. Olympic had most of their top guys but a red card to Gavin Hoy on 40’ was a big problem already down by two goals so it only got worse. Jack O’Connor scored a hat-trick for Petone. Massive win as they chase a top four spot.
Then on top of that, second-placed Wellington Phoenix Reserves also lost. They picked an extremely young team to face North Wellington with only Alby Kelly-Heald and Dan McKay part of the older wave. Got to blood a few of the guys for next year along the way, could also be a case of first team preseason interfering. North Welly were 2-0 up after 25’ but Ryan Watson and Daniel Makowen tied things up... only for Cory Vickers to win it for NW with twenty to go. Decent way for NW to respond after losing to Whanganui last week – Whanganui went down 3-1 to Stop Out so that relegation battle is back where it used to be with Whanga adrift by four points.
To make things even funkier, Miramar Rangers beat Western Suburbs 1-0 via a Harry Chote goal meaning that the top three teams in the Central League all lost. Napier City sure took advantage by topping Waterside Karori 3-0 to jump over Suburbs into third place. Already mentioned what fifth-placed Petone got up to. This top NL qualification race is going down to the wire.