Delightful Touches
Blackcaps updates, Ford Trophy/HBJ Shield leaders, Breakers make the play-in, Wellington Phoenix continuation, Warriors preseason & more
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Admiring The Wellington Phoenix’s Blossoming Academy Pathways (Football)
Flying Kiwis – February 14 (Football)
Recapping The Tall Ferns Efforts At The 2024 Olympic Qualifiers (Basketball)
Aotearoa Warriors Diary: Youngster Report vs Tigers (Rugby League)
Aotearoa Warriors Diary: Pre-Season Challenge Squad vs Tigers (Rugby League)
Kiwi-NRL Junior Spotlight: Under 19 Basics & The 1st 15 Pipeline (Rugby League)
Kiwi-NRL Spotlight: Pre-Season Challenge Breakdown (Rugby League)
Scotty’s Word
The World Test Championship ladder looks great...
New Zealand: 3-1 | 75% win
India: 4-2 | 59% win
Australia: 6-3 | 55% win
Bangladesh: 1-1 | 50% win
Pakistan: 2-3 | 36% win
West Indies: 1-2 | 33% win
South Africa: 3-4 | 25% win
England: 3-4 | 21% win
Sri Lanka: 0-2 | 21% win
Blackcaps now swing into T20 mode against Australia and this will be followed by a Test series. Below are Blackcaps T20I stats since the last T20 World Cup (November 2022) for lads in the squad to face Australia which is now updated with Matt Henry and Tim Siefert out injured, replaced by Ben Sears and Will Young.
Batting
Mark Chapman: 620 runs @ 34avg/139sr
Finn Allen: 491 runs @ 28avg/162sr
Glenn Phillips: 421 runs @ 28avg/131sr
Devon Conway: 189 runs @ 17avg/113sr
Mitchell Santner: 155 runs @ 12avg/106sr
Will Young: 110 runs @ 13avg/99sr
Rachin Ravindra: 92 runs @ 15avg/131sr
Bowling
Tim Southee: 28w @ 16avg/7.6rpo
Ish Sodhi: 23w @ 24avg/7.7rpo
Adam Milne: 22w @ 23avg/9.3rpo
Mitchell Santner: 17w @ 26avg/6.8rpo
Lockie Ferguson: 10w @ 30av/9.3rpo
Ben Sears: 7w @ 19avg/8.3rpo
Rachin Ravindra: 5w @ 32avg/9.1rpo
Trent Boult hasn't played during this period. Josh Clarkson's in the squad with career T20 stats of 28avg/148sr (bat) and 35avg/9.1rpo (ball).
Kyle Jamieson's injury is a bummer. Will O'Rourke holds his spot in the Test squad and Scott Kuggeleijn is also in the Test squad to face Australia. These two were the best seamers for NZ-A in 'unofficial Tests' and one-dayers against Australia A last year which is a lovely reflection of the Blackcaps development pipeline. Here are their performances at each checkpoint which includes the first stanza of Plunket Shield this summer...
FC vs Australia A in NZ
Scott Kuggeleijn: 9w @ 28avg/3.7rpo - 1st
Will O'Rourke: 4w @ 34avg/4.3rpo - 3rd
FC vs Australia A in Australia
Scott Kuggeleijn: 13w @ 17avg/3.7rpo - 1st
LA vs Australia A in Australia
Will O'Rourke: 7w @ 10avg/3.8rpo - 1st
Scott Kuggeleijn: 3w @ 26avg/5.2rpo - 3rd
2023/24 Plunket Shield
Scott Kuggeleijn: 22w @ 16avg/2.9rpo - 1st
Will O'Rourke: 9w @ 18avg/2.3rpo - 17th
How has Henry Nicholls dealt with being dropped from the Blackcaps Test team?
Plunket Shield: 393 runs @ 78avg/58sr
Ford Trophy: 295 runs @ 98avg/93sr
Super Smash: 317 runs @ 39avg/142sr
Nicholls hit 85* for Canterbury on Sunday in Ford Trophy after 138 runs in the game prior. Canterbury are first in Ford Trophy and locked in for the final next Sunday with Otago playing Auckland on Wednesday for a spot in the final. Here are the best players in Ford Trophy...
Batting
Rob O'Donnell: 457 runs @ 57avg/78sr
Finn Allen: 394 runs @ 56avg/123sr
Brad Schmulian: 354 runs @ 50avg/79sr
Joe Carter: 350 runs @ 43avg/82sr
Brett Hampton: 346 runs @ 86avg/116sr
Troy Johnson: 333 runs @ 41avg/72sr
Chad Bowes: 330 runs @ 36avg/94sr
Will O'Donnell: 324 runs @ 40avg/73sr
Thorn Parkes: 298 runs @ 59avg/69sr
Henry Nicholls: 295 runs @ 98avg/93sr
Bowling
Kristian Clarke: 18w @ 22avg/5.3rpo
Blair Tickner: 17w @ 20avg/4.2rpo
Ray Toole: 17w @ 23avg/4.9rpo
Luke Georgeson: 15w @ 13avg/4.2rpo
Zak Foulkes: 15w @ 21avg/4.6rpo
Will O'Rourke: 13w @ 17avg/4.4rpo
Adam Milne: 12w @ 15avg/3.9rpo
Matt Bacon: 12w @ 19avg/4.7rpo
Josh Clarkson: 12w @ 23avg/5.4rpo
Matt Fisher: 12w @ 30avg/5.2rpo
A key nugget is the crop of young seamers. O'Rourke is joined by Clarke, Toole, Georgeson and Foulkes as youngsters having an impact. Georgeson is especially funky as he took another 5w baggy and has 12w in his last three games, offering a similar all-round skillset as Foulkes.
The HBJ Shield final has been sorted with Otago hosting Wellington next Sunday. Here are the best players this season...
Batting
Jess McFadyen: 326 runs @ 40avg/72sr
Frances Mackay: 308 runs @ 38avg/68sr
Caitlin Gurrey: 299 runs @ 33avg/66sr
Polly Inglis: 289 runs @ 48avg/77sr
Leigh Kasperek: 277 runs @ 30avg/74sr
Maddy Green: 274 runs @ 68avg/83sr
Georgia Atkinson: 274 runs @ 34avg/68sr
Felicity Robertson: 272 runs @ 45avg/65sr
Natalie Dodd: 271 runs @ 33avg/73sr
Georgia Plimmer: 262 runs @ 32avg/83sr
Bowling
Emma Black: 21w @ 11avg/3.4rpo
Kayley Knight: 18w @ 15avg/5.1rpo
Leigh Kasperek: 17w @ 18avg/3.7rpo
Frances Mackay: 16w @ 17avg/3.6rpo
Eden Carson: 15w @ 15avg/3.5rpo
Claudia Green: 15w @ 21avg/4.2rpo
Xara Jetly: 14w @ 21avg/3.8rpo
Sarah Asmussen: 14w @ 30avg/4.9rpo
Hannah Rowe: 13w @ 21avg/4.4rpo
Gabby Sullivan: 13w @ 31avg/4.7rpo
Marama Downes: 12w @ 22avg/4rpo
Kasperek and Mackay are top-10 for runs and wickets. Plimmer and Atkinson are the only youngsters in the best batters mix but the bowling chart features Black, Knight, Sullivan and Downes as impressive young seamers. Jetly is offering championship mahi in Super Smash and Ford Trophy. White Ferns in the above mix: Green, Plimmer, Carson, Rowe.
NZ Warriors youngsters in the trial vs Tigers are covered here.
Watching NZW footy again reminded me of some key elements that inform me about NZW and their opponent. First is when NZW get a penalty and kick for touch, then play starts with the tap 10m off the sideline. NZW offer some basic shape and go three passes to the middle where a prop (Bunty Afoa) carts it up…
Even though Leiataua did a double-take on the second penalty (which was directly after the first penalty), NZW still got what they wanted. Good NRL teams will know this is coming and counter it with all defenders moving forward. Bad NRL teams won't know this is coming and as was the case vs Tigers, three passes get NZW past the wave of pressure and to the middle. This also gets Afoa running at Api Koroisau who is the smallest defender and the second play includes Jayden Sullivan; Afoa runs at the two smallest lads.
Running at smaller players means Afoa lands on his front (hands and knees) as well which makes me think about NRL wrestling. NZW wrestling/grappling has improved under Kai Kara-France's coaching via City Kickboxing and the strength to earn quick play the balls (Afoa offers ideal examples) stems from grappling. Alternatively, that wrestling helps NZW slow the opposition down.
Something to watch for in defence is how players hit and stick; make contact and stay as close to contact as possible during the tackle. A big hit can often result in the attacker bouncing off and with no defenders on them, they continue to run or earn a quick play the ball. The best way to slow ruck speed is maintaining contact all the way through a tackle (hit, wrestle, lay on them). As I saw the youngsters for NZW showcase what they have learned, the NRL crew should be more capable in this area with another summer of grappling.
Unfortunately for CKB, they no longer have a UFC champion affiliated with CKB. Israel Adesanya lost his championship belt to Sean Strickland and Alex Volkanovski lost his bout yesterday to Ilia Topuria. I don't know enough to make grand statements but CKB used to have multiple champions and top-10 lads, now they don't have a champion and less top-10 lads.
I’m curious about Jack Howarth and Trey Mooney building on NZ-A selection last year by playing for Aotearoa Maori in the All Stars game. Along with Benjamin Te Kura, these three played U19 State of Origin (Howarth and Te Kura for Queensland, Mooney for NSW) but Howarth and Mooney have now done the NZ-A and Maori double as they connect with Aotearoa heritage.
Te Kura is only been talked about as a Queensland prospect despite his NZ-A selection last year and along with Howarth, they have been celebrated as future Queensland players. Te Kura seems likely to stay with Queensland and I'm curious to see what direction Howarth and Mooney take their representative futures. Choosing Aotearoa over Origin would be sneaky massive.
All four big boppers from this yarn who played in NRL Pre-Season Challenge games were impressive. Caius Fa'atili had his stint with Storm, followed by Sebastian Su'a vs Salesi Ata'ata in Knights vs Sharks and then D'Jazirhae Pua'avase for Cowboys.
Kiwi-NRL junior try-scorers in QLD/NSW U19s...
Redcliffe: Patrick Kailahi (Takahiwai)
Townsville: Kanye Pua'avase (Otara)
Wynnum: Kylem Vunipola (Manawatu)
Eels: Javahn Stevenson-Hala (Manawatu)
Bulldogs: Cheldon Hayward (Linwood)
Sharks: Sione Latu (Victoria)
NZ Warriors: Kayliss Fatialofa (Manurewa), Augustino Filipo (Mangere East), Malachi Filipo (St Paul's College)
Musical jam…
Wildcard’s Notebook
The Breakers did what they needed to do over the weekend... sort of. The most important task was accomplished as they beat Brisbane Bullets 103-87 on Friday night in their final home game. A really strong team performance to clinch their postseason spot. Parker Jackson-Cartwright led the way with 27 points and 8 assists, while Zylan Cheatham scored 19 pts in 19 minutes. Good ol’ Izayah Le’Afa hit a trio of three-pointers on his way to 15 points, plus Finn Delany was as dominant as he’s looked since he returned from injury.
But then they did the standard 2024 Breakers thing of swapping a win for a loss when they slipped up away to already-eliminated Adelaide 36ers on Sunday. Lost 76-70, leading for good spells in the first half but then stumbling in the third quarter and never fully recovering. PJC scored 24 points but the rest of the starters struggled. Will McDowell-White, to make matters worse, dislocated his shoulder again so we won’t see him again this term. Delany was given a rest on the short turnaround.
Understandable... but if they’d won by five points (which they absolutely could have) then they’d have finished fourth and avoided the first play-in game. If they’d won by less than that they’d have been fifth and gotten a home game for the play-in. Instead they lost to a team with nothing but pride to play for and thus they’re sixth and will be away to Sydney Kings on Wednesday 28 February in a one-off must-win contest. Winner plays the loser of Tasmania vs Illawarra... so that 5+ point win would have given them an extra life in trying to get to the semi-finals.
But that was completely expected because this team has been wonky with injuries all season, which has limited their depth, plus the coach hardly seems to trust the guys outside his top eight or so players, putting more responsibility on those key players, leading to more injuries. It’s a vicious cycle caused by subpar recruitment and exposed by some bad luck (though when the same organisation seems to have injury problems every year it stops feeling like luck after a while).
When the Breakers have at least four days of rest between games, they are 13-6
When the Breakers have three of fewer days of rest between games they are 0-9
They’ll have nine days rest between now and the Kings play-in game and then four days between that and the second play-in, should they win, so they’re not out of it just yet. Hard to see them hanging around in a series against Perth or Melbourne (it’ll be Melbourne if they progress from sixth) but then it’s hard to see anyone outside of those two going any deeper than that anyway. Last year’s two grand finalists are about to meet in the lower play-in game. Should also mention that Sydney Kings whallopped last-placed SEM Phoenix 122-67 in their last game, which is what nudged them ahead of the Breakers on points percentage thus earning homecourt for the play-in meeting.
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Meanwhile the NBL have announced their shortlists for the various awards. Not got much of a Breakers presence this time around for obvious reasons but Parker Jackson-Cartwright has made the cut for the MVP trophy... he’s challenging Bryce Cotton (Perth) or Chris Goulding (Melbourne). Pretty excellent given the wobbly Breakers team that he was a part of. 20.2 points, 5.7 assists, and 1.9 steals per game deserves recognition. Cotton ought to win that one.
PJC is the only Breakers player shortlisted for anything, although Anthony Lamb has a chance to sneak onto the All-NBL second team. You already know there’s a strong kiwi presence elsewhere though. Tyrell Harrison has been rewarded for his breakthrough NBL campaign with the Brisbane Bullets by earning a nod for Most Improved. He’ll be up against Jaylin Galloway (Sydney Kings) and Sean Macdonald (Tasmania JackJumpers) for that and he should have a decent chance.
Then of course the bro Shea Ili has been included in the top three for Defensive Player of the Year for his efforts with Melbourne United. This is an every-year thing for Ili. The DPOY trophy is named after Damian Martin but amongst active players it’s Ili who has that legacy reputation as a defender... yet, believe it or not, he’s never actually won one of these things. Always shortlisted but never victorious. Obviously his copious team success means way more than the individual nods... but his team are pretty keen to see him honoured too. This was Jo Lual-Acuil speaking at the press conference after Ili’s defensive clamps helped thrash the Breakers last week...
“We have this guy named Shea Ili. He should be Defensive Player of the Year. I think it’s pretty criminal he hasn’t won one yet, so you media guys, come on man. It’s pretty obvious who the best defensive player is. He leads us a lot. When Shili is up and in, then IC (Ian Clark) gets up and in, Delly (Matthew Dellavedova) gets up and in. As bigs, we don’t want to let them down with all of that effort they put in. When Shili is super locked in – and he’s always locked in – it just gives us pace and easy transition points.”
A similar endorsement came from SEM Phoenix big man Alan Williams speaking to NBL’s in-house media a few days later. Even the rivals are seeing the same thing...
“Anyone that’s watched the NBL this season has seen how dominant the Melbourne United defence has been, and the head of that snake is Shea Ili. He picks up full court, is diving on loose balls all the time, finds ways in little niches that he has is his defensive schemes - it’s his timing, it’s his understanding of the game. He does it all defensively and that’s why he’s the best defender in this league.”
The people have spoken. Surely this is the year.
Another week of contrasting Wellington Phoenix results. The men ground out another impressive victory, the women had their biggest defeat of the season. Both teams were severely hampered by missing players.
Ladies first, and there were large portions of the 3-0 loss away to Western United that felt really competitive... but without the likes of Mariana Speckmaier and Macey Fraser they weren’t able to translate those portions into genuine chances and ended up on wrong end of a comfortable defeat. Their first multi-goal loss of the season. The WahiNix have now lost six of their last seven games... they’ve also played six of their last seven games in Australia. They are the same six. A rough stretch of their season which they have not been able to quite rise to. Still six games left to try and climb back up into the top six though.
They shouldn’t even have had to play this match. Six players were called up to the national team, yet they weren’t able to reschedule due to a lack of alternative dates/venues... I mean, there’s a FIFA window next week but okay yeah nah nevermind. Pity coz that would’ve meant no Chloe Logarzo for Western. Then again, this is also Oceania Football’s fault for scheduling their Olympic Qualifiers to finish just before the FIFA window instead of during it for some reason. At least the Nix did get the Adelaide game postponed – hopefully Speckmaier (and also Fraser and Annalie Longo who also picked up knocks with the Football Ferns) will be back by the time they next play in two weeks, only missing the one match each.
Six internationals out (Fraser, Longo, Mackenzie Barry, Brianna Edwards, Michaela Foster & Kate Taylor) while their top scorer missed the match with injury. Grace Wisnewski and Marisa van der Meer also out with long-term injuries. Hard for any team to travel well with that many absentees. But it was at least a chance to check out some depth.
Daisy Brazendale got her first start as the CDM and battled hard. Alyssa Whinham showed some delightful touches in her first ninety minute outing since the last game of the 2021-22 season. Helena Errington and Ella McMillan got runs off the bench, with McMillan slotting into the defensive line while Errington offered some silky touches in the midfield (and perhaps might have been a more natural CM than Hope Breslin, though with Brazendale already required maybe that might have been a bit much rookie presence). Didn’t get a whole lot from Kelli Brown or Mickey Robertson, neither was able to hammer home their case for more opportunities. Also Manaia Elliott feels much more effective on the right edge, while Emma Main was the team’s most dangerous threat but she’s yet to play a full game (having battled through injury and illness at times this term). It’ll be interesting to see if anything gets shaken up when this team is next in action.
The home and away disparity is well known. The other major factor in this team’s up-and-down nature is that they have only had one instance all season of being able to pick the same starting line-up two games in a row, and usually because of more than just 1-2 alterations. New combinations every week. No wonder they haven’t been able to settle. But they played their best footy towards the end of both previous seasons so don’t count ‘em out just yet.
As for the hombres, they’re still five points clear at the top after a scrappy 2-1 win away to Macarthur. Kickoff got delayed by an hour due to a lightning storm. Alex Rufer was ruled out during warm-ups. They also had Bozhidar Kraev, Sam Sutton, Nico Pennington, and Tim Payne missing with injuries while Oskar Zawada was only fit for the bench and same deal for new Costa Rican import Youstin Salas. Fin Conchie made his first ALM start, one of seven academy grads in the starting eleven. Also saw Matt Sheridan getting almost half an hour off the bench (his second game and by far his most meaningful contribution). They were away from home against a good team, finding their depth tested in a way that they never had to deal with for the first half of this campaign – in contrast to the women, they’ve had unchanged XIs in five of their first ten matches, though none in the eight since.
And they won. Kosta Barbarouses scored twice more to take him to 10 for the campaign. There were chances to add more but in the end it was their defence, once more, that secured the victory here. Game management too, with a budding reputation for the time-wasting arts suddenly getting attacked to this Phoenix team. Fair enough. The key thing there is they’re establishing - and then holding – leads. They’re a fantastic defensive side and they’re giving that defence something to work with. This time it was a back three which was almost enforced by all their midfield absentees, with Isaac Hughes stepping up and delivering an excellent performance just as he did the last time he was summoned into a defensive trio.
As I write this, the Football Ferns are preparing for their Olympic qualification final against Solomon Islands. I’m also prepping yet another week of Flying Kiwis yarns and what’s impressive is that there are 20+ of our best players over there with the national team (24 to start with, then one left early as arranged and three more have been injured along the way)... yet there’s still been enough female footballers to keep the FKs yarns nice and balanced. Not to mention the talent on show across the A-League (certainly not just at the Phoenix either).
That includes players who were injured or unavailable for this tour. It also includes players who were overlooked but have been able to boost their standings in the weeks since. Like Emma Pijnenburg who made her first team debut for Feyenoord over the weekend. Or Suya Haering who is on the verge of doing the same at Turbine Potsdam in the German second tier (she was an unused sub in their first game back from the break). Or Jana Radosavljevic who has recently moved to MSV Duisburg in the German Bundesliga.
All part of the growing depth – which is the most important driving factor towards this team getting more competitive against the best sides in the world. I’ll write about this Footy Ferns campaign in detail later in the week but know that there’s so much more going on below the surface. Here’s a hypothetical squad of players from outside of that Olympic qualifying group...
GK: Erin Nayler, Murphy Sheaff, Georgia Candy
DEF: CJ Bott, Ali Riley, Meikayla Moore, Marisa van der Meer, Rebecca Lake, Zoe McMeeken, Suya Haering
MID: Ria Percival, Malia Steinmetz, Olivia Chance, Grace Wisnewski, Emma Pijnenburg, Alyssa Whinham
FWD: Milly Clegg, Paige Satchell, Jana Radosavljevic, Deven Jackson, Hannah Blake, Manaia Elliott, Emma Main
That took about three minutes to whip up and there are definitely more. Good luck ever finding a national team with 100% fitness/availability (even at the World Cup we still didn’t have the services of the recently-retired Abby Erceg, for example) but that’s all the more reason why we need strong depth. Sheaff is the only one there who hasn’t played professionally (chuck in Lily Alfeld instead if you want, though not sure if the injuries are going to give her that opportunity) while Chance is the only current free agent.
Rip it up, amigos...