Culmination
Blackcaps & White Ferns states, All Whites speculation, NZ Warriors pipeline & more
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The Breakers Were Wooden-Spooners, Now One Year Later They’re NBL Finals-Bound (Basketball)
The Brooklyn Nets Blockbuster Era Is Over, Now Sean Marks Can Get Back To What He Does Best (Basketball)
Kiwi Steve in the NBA #6: The Absence Of Steve (Basketball)
Five Standout Prospects From The Wellington Phoenix Academy's Class Of 2022 (Football)
Flying Kiwis – February 21 (Football)
Francis Manuleleua And The Kiwi-NRL Panthers (Rugby League)
The Kiwi-NRL Juniors Who Helped Australian Teams Make Finals In 2022 (Rugby League)
10 Funky Kiwi-NRL Youngsters For 2023 (Rugby League)
Blackcaps vs England Second Test Preview (Cricket)
2022/23 HBJ Shield: Five Things As HBJ Shield Cricket Swings Back Around (Cricket)
How Canterbury Magicians Sent Amy Satterthwaite Out As A Champion (Cricket)
How Northern Brave Won Back To Back Super Smash Championships (Cricket)
Scotty’s Word
Blackcaps are in operation today and hopefully Wellington is covered in sunshine throughout this Test. There is isn't a whole lot of evidence to suggest that Blackcaps will defeat England, apart from going 1-1 in the last two home Test series, so focus on enjoyment regardless of the cricketing outcome.
Blackcaps batting has been discussed in the wash up from the first Test vs England. Devon Conway and Daryl Mitchell scored runs, as did Tom Blundell. The best batters in Pakistan were Kane Williamson and Tom Latham. Conway was also good in Pakistan and has a 70+ score in three consecutive Tests.
Mitchell scored the most Test runs for Blackcaps last year. Mitchell, Conway and Williamson have Test averages over 50. Blundell averages 44 and Latham averages 41.
Blackcaps bowling has been the major issue. Blackcaps batting is pretty solid and they usually find ways to develop mid-series, adapting to conditions or their opponent.
A shared issue for Blackcaps and White Ferns is team selection stemming from murky plans.
Blackcaps persist with the spin all-rounder role, despite all four Bay Oval opponents selecting a specialist spinner. Blackcaps won two in a row at Bay Oval with that plan and have now lost two Tests in a row against teams who embraced spin in Aotearoa.
As noted on Monday, White Ferns had a different team for all four T20 World Cup games. That's not how a team wins World Cup games and as White Ferns showed us how not to win in squad selections (potential over performance), this is a weird trend spanning across different regimes.
White Ferns T20I bowling...
In T20I cricket last year, Hayley Jensen took the most wickets (19w @ 11.89avg/5.55rpo) and Eden Carson was the only other bowler to take 10+ wickets with a similar average. Fran Jonas was really good as well, taking 13w @ 13.46avg/4.08rpo which made her the most economical White Ferns bowler.
Jensen and Jonas then struggled during the T20 World Cup. While four other players bowled 10+ overs, Jensen bowled 6ov with 2w @ 26avg/8.66rpo and Jonas bowled 7ov with 1w @ 53avg/7.57rpo. They were the most expensive White Ferns bowlers at the T20 WC.
Carson however, she took 6w @ 11.33avg/6.18rpo which puts her alongside Lea Tahuhu (8w @ 11.87avg/6.33rpo) as the best White Ferns bowlers at the T20 WC. Carson now has a T20I career record of 11.64avg/5.5rpo which is aligned with her T20 career mahi of 16.92avg/6.26rpo.
Amelia Kerr also improved with the ball, while finishing alongside Suzie Bates as the only kiwis to score 100+ runs at this tournament. Kerr has an ODI batting average of 38.91 (!!) and her T20I average of 23.46 will keep increasing given how Kerr went from 19.75avg in 2020 up to 22.6 in 2021 and now hovering around 30avg for two years.
Kerr was steady with her leggies last year, taking 13w @ 2.84avg/5.71rpo. Steady but Hannah Rowe was the only other bowler who averaged 20+ in T20Is for Aotearoa last year. Kerr finished with 6w @ 12.5avg/5rpo at the T20 WC and Rowe was super efficient (3w @ 9avg/4.5rpo). Looks like White Ferns T20I bowling has flipped to start 2023.
NZ Warriors will spark up a Harold Matthew Under 17 team and return to Jersey Flegg Under 21s next year, then returning to NRLWahine. The Warriors have already showcased their investment in NRLW and while they did have a women's team during the pandemic, that squad featured mostly Australian players. NRLW isn't the most stable competition right now and when Warriors return to NRLW, the competition should have a stronger contracting system in place - Warriors will return after laying strong foundations in Aotearoa as well.
Having four teams below their NRL team will cost plenty of money. Big donnie Mark Robinson is laying everything out for Warriors and this will give Warriors around 100 players in their system below NRL, most of whom will be from Aotearoa.
Kiwi-NRL juniors leave Aotearoa because there aren't enough spots in the Warriors system. More spots in the Warriors system means more juniors will stay in Aotearoa. There is still too much Kiwi-NRL talent for Warriors though, keep that in mind as we are in the age of Kiwi-NRL abundance.
I update Kiwi-NRL matters at the SG Ball level in most newsletter dispatches (Warrors vs Dragons on Sunday in Pukekohe). I'm still learning about Mal Meninga Cup U18 footy in Queensland but can spot Ryder Williams (Marist) in the halves for Burleigh and Patrick Kailahi (Takahiwa/Hukanui) started at prop for Redcliffe last week.
What's this Harold Matthews thing though? While I tend not to cover the younger age brackets, to highlight the Kiwi-NRL abundance and how Warriors can benefit from this, here are a few Kiwi-NRL juniors named in NSW U17s this round...
Knights: Haami Loza (De La Salle College/Mangere East) - halves
Central Coast Roosters: Demetrius Kilisimasi (Howick College/Marist) - fullback, Joshua Kopua (Sacred Heart College/Mangere East) - prop
Sydney Roosters: Kahu Capper (Spotswood College/Taranaki) - centre
Bulldogs: Bronson Reuben (St Bede's College/Northern Bulldogs) - halves, Sosaia Alatini (Hornby) - edge forward
Two more FIH Pro League games for Black Sticks Women in Wellington this weekend. Saturday's game is against USA followed by a game against China on Sunday. Two draws and shootout losses last weekend, giving us a gauge for how the team is progressing.
Musical jam…
Wildcard’s Notebook
Been thinking a lot about the state of the Blackcaps Test team lately. It’s a topic that the comrade Scotty’s been writing about plenty. We also discussed it a fair bit on the podcast yesterday.
Thanks to a group of all-time greats and the timely integration of a few valuable new players along the way this team had sustained the best extended period of success in its history... but working with an older group over an extended period of time does leave you at the risk of everyone kinda gapping it all at once.
The World Test Championship Final was in June 2021. That’s a year and a half ago. Already Ross Taylor, BJ Watling, Colin de Grandhomme, and effectively Trent Boult have retired from that eleven, while Kyle Jamieson has barely played due to injury.
That’s a lot of change all at once – not to mention a chance of captaincy. You should never ever ever count Neil Wagner out... but it’s not a lie to say he hasn’t looked as sharp recently. Meanwhile Henry Nicholls seems to be on the brink for his position (although that’s usually when he steps up with a big hundy). It could be that, after winning the previous WTC, the Blackcaps end this two-year cycle with only four players remaining in their respective First XIs.
Have a geeze at some year by year Test results for the Blackcaps...
2013 – 12 GM | 2 W | 6 D | 4 L
2014 – 9 GM | 5 W | 2 D | 2 L
2015 – 8 GM | 4 W | 1 D | 3 L
2016 – 11 GM | 4 W | 1 D | 6 L
2017 – 7 GM | 4 W | 2 D | 1 L
2018 – 7 GM | 4 W | 2 D | 1 L
2019 – 8 GM | 4 W | 1 D | 3 L
2020 – 6 GM | 5 W | 0 D | 1 L
2021 – 6 GM | 3 W | 2 D | 1 L
2022 – 8 GM | 2 W | 1 D | 5 L
The last two years have seen the Blackcaps duck under the four-win barrier following seven consecutive seasons at that. There had only been five such seasons in history before that streak. There was still one year in there, 2016, where they lost more than they won. But otherwise it was a thrilling and dominant era. Especially at home. Here’s a simple look at Blackcaps home results since the start of 2013...
D D D D W W W D W W W W L L W W W W D L D W W W D D W W W W D W W W W W W L W W L L
The losses were against Australia twice in Feb 2016 (Wellington & Christchurch), to South Africa in March 2017 (Hamilton), to Bangladesh in Jan 2022 (Mount Maunganui), to South Africa in Feb 2022 (Christchurch), and then last week to England (Mount Maunganui).
This ain’t to say that the circus has left town, just that if they start winning again it’ll be the beginning of a new era. The WTC Final was, sadly, the end of something. Perhaps ‘culmination’ is a better word. There’s plenty of talent around the NZ scene, some of those players will need time to adjust to Test cricket though. They’ll also need a slight tweak on the unofficial 30+ age limit on Test selections – there’s not a single dude in their 20s in this current XI against England. 29yo Blair Tickner wasn’t exactly shifting the trend last match either. We’re talking about a process that won’t resolve itself overnight... but in the meantime, gotta show gratitude for an incredible era of Blackcaps Test cricket. Especially since, for the first time ever, they actually won a trophy to reflect that excellence.
There’s a Footy Ferns write-up in the works, look for that either in the next few days or on Monday morning depending on how much I feel like working over the weekend. But in other international footy yarns, the All Whites face off against China in a pair of home games in about four weeks. Consider that a soft launch for the next World Cup cycle, the softness supplied by NZF’s failures to find a new coach. Interim gaffer Darren Bazeley will probably stick fairly close to where Danny Hay left off in that regard although there is some room for funkiness when that squad gets named.
There are bound to be a couple of blokes held back by their clubs with minor injuries or personal reasons, there always are. In terms of known knocks we can safely rule out Alex Greive who was hurt the week before last and scans weren’t kind. Ryan Thomas had another injury scare recently and it seems unlikely he’ll risk flying halfway around the world even if he’s recovered by then (which I think he should be). Fullbacks Niko Kirwan and Francis De Vries remain out with long term knee injuries. Clayton Lewis and Kosta Barbarouses are currently out for the Phoenix, though might get back in time for the AWs. Touch and go. Tommy Smith has been missing lately however he returned for Colchester last weekend so should be in line to earn his 50th cap.
One bloke who will almost certainly be back is Sarpreet Singh. Hard not to think that Singh coulda made the difference in the Costa Rica game had he been fit. It’ll be a blessing to have him back if that does indeed come to pass. Singh has a goal and an assist in three starts for Jahn Regensburg since his return – and plays against tomorrow morning (6.30am kickoff for any fellow intrepid followers).
In terms of bolters who could be in contention, gotta think that Callan Elliot is a great shout given the A-Dubs and their right back wobbliness. Kyle Adams was called up last time but didn’t get a cap, so he’s in the queue. Ollie Whyte is a midfield possibility if Lewis doesn’t get back in time.
Also pretty curious to see how the goalkeeping yarns go. Oli Sail has emerged as the new number one but hasn’t been in top form for the Welly Nix recently (good from him on the weekend though, to be fair). Stefan Marinovic doesn’t even have a club right now after his Israeli team replaced him mid-season. Meanwhile Max Crocombe is going great for Grimsby Town, Nik Tzanev (who fell out of contention when he didn’t his covid vax, thus catching those travel restrictions) is in career-best form for AFC Wimbledon these days, Jamie Searle and Alex Paulsen have been hanging about, and Michael Woud just got his second season in Japan underway.
Seems that Woud remains the third-string keeper at Kyoto Sanga after they signed a new fella to replace the second choicer who left at the conclusion of his contract... might wanna think about a loan out in that case. But Woud remains a big talent (despite that one shocker game at the Olympics – people remember that game but they forget how good he was against Japan in the knockouts).
Plus Kees Sims recently had trials/training stints with Leicester City, Nottingham Forest, and Coventry City having previously had a go with Lilleström. He’s under contract with Ljungskile in the Swedish third tier and got up to all that in his offseason... but clearly that ain’t gonna be his level for much longer. Would imagine Sims hangs about until after the U20 World Cup, where he’s likely to be the main man with the gloves and therefore a senior national team camp beforehand could be rather useful.
Another potential bolter is Keegan Jelacic. Aussie-born but represented Aotearoa at the U17 World Cup a couple years back (he missed his U20 wave due to covid). He’s been tearing things up for Perth Glory this season, playing well enough that we may have another Gianni Stensness case on our hands. At this point that switch to Aussie kinda feels more likely than him becoming an All White (and playing friendlies for NZ wouldn’t mean that decision is finalised anyway). However there is one secret weapon at play here... his agent is Shane Smeltz.
There were some headlines/allusions to Smeltz pressing for Jelacic to be picked by Australia recently. That was based on an interview that he did with Far Post Perth, yet these are the actual words that were quoted from Smeltzy there:
“We have had some open discussions around what the future might look like. I know there has been talk around who Keegan will represent and knowing Graham Arnold, he will have a vision on how things might look come the next World Cup. As top young talent goes in the country, he must be in the conversation.”
It’s not exactly a come-and-get-him plea, is it? Just an agent talking up his client at a time when he absolutely should be talking up his client. He’d surely say the same thing to a kiwi source if he were asked too. On that note... might as well pick him, right? Get him in the camp get into his ear. Alex Greive is injured, clearing up a squad spot. There’s an interim boss in place. It’s the first series of the new cycle. Might as well, right?
And now, to herald in another lovely weekend, get amongst the newest Unknown Mortal Orchestra tune. Very pumped for this album. Legendary Aotearoa psychedelia bangers, undefeated for a decade.