The Niche Cast Podcast
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Scotty’s Word
Let’s get nerdy, but first let’s have a giggle:
Im not sure how new these kind of attacking shapes are, they are rather interesting though and are a development of the standard second-man plays that have been the NRL for about a decade. In checking this stuff out, it’s rather amazing how many tries stem from a random occurance (bounce of the ball, pouncing on an opportunity etc) and the fresh 2020 version of NRL definitely leans into this with the rule changes; often stuff seems random but simple ideas such as plowing through with support players and having an accurate kick-chase are key aspects of these ‘random’ instances.
You can’t control the randomness, you can control you’re positioning and attitude.
Any way, the main idea here is three options. Instead of one decoy and one guy out the back, NRL teams are hitting their backline moves with three options to cause all sorts of defensive kerfuffle. Don’t buzz too much about who gets the footy in these screenshots, just suss out the three options - not always three super legit options but it’s all about the shape presenting three options for the defence to suss out…
This shot of Shuan Johnson sparked this whole idea and you can see five different passing options for Johnson to work with. Ah, but there is a sixth option out by the sideline (Bryson Goodwin) and Johnson throws a lovely pass to find Goodwin. Six options is kinda crazy, super funky…
Rugby union teams rely heavily on the second-man play themselves, although with a different set up. Union has recently been about getting the pods lined up and this is a union-specific tactic as you don’t want to hit it up yourself - you need blokes with you to blow over the ruck and secure the footy. From that, you can build and here the Blues show a splash of funk as Josh Goodhue (not numbered) gets the footy with the same three passing option highlighted from the NRL…
The key for Goodhue above is using the pod as passing options - 1 and 3 are short ball options while 2 (Otere Black) offers a second-man wrap. Goodhue can hit it up with his pod, or make one of three passes and he passes to 3 right before hitting the defensive line.
Another example from the Blues below, as the pod has Black swinging behind it and if Black gets the footy, the Blues have the shape to find Riekoe Ioane and Mark Telea in space out wider…
The Chiefs haven’t won a game yet and that’s obviously due to far more than how they run their pod plays. There is a notable difference though and while there are plenty of variables that could impact such a play, the basic premise is that the Chiefs’ play below is far less funky that what the Blues dished up.
The Chiefs don’t quite have the pod set up and only two pasing options. The Crusaders have two defenders covering the two Chiefs players (ball-runner and short ball option) so they can deal with that, then all it takes is a siwft read to slide out when Aaron Cruden gets the footy wrapping around…
Another less funky example is from the Highlanders in their loss to the Blues. The Highlanders have a decent pod going on, but the pass is so early that it enables the defence to slide straight away - very little is done to keep the tight defenders engaged. Outside that, the Highlanders have three forwards who are all marked by Blues forwards (no good match ups there)…
In Super Rugby, keep an eye on which team is doing their passing at the defensive line and how many options are available with these pod set ups.
To pounce on the randomness, take this Crusaders example in which a kick is put up and there is a gang of chasers plowing through…
Submission Radio interviewed Dan Hooker and coach Eugene Bareman after Hooker’s loss to Dustin Poirier last weekend. Bareman is always an exceptional listen and his insights on Hooker’s loss as well as Alex Volkanovski’ rematch with Max Holloway are golden…
Rose Namajunas (UFC fighter) is a fascinating character as well who has been through a bunch of ups and downs in her career. This is a funky listen if you’re interested in some of the mental stuff with professional fighting…
Wildcard’s Notebook
At the end of every month we do this roundup of mini-reviews of the best albums that came out in that month, there or thereabouts. The idea is a cheeky paragraph about the record and a selected track and if you rate it then you’ll dig deeper yourself, we’re just chucking out recommendations of the stuff we liked. The Monthly Album Jukebox. So yeah June’s version is out imminently, keep ‘em peeled for it, and June was a pretty intense month for great albums. Amongst my own picks were Phoebe Bridgers, Perfume Genius, and Larkin Poe. Jams a-plenty in that lot.
There’s been a bit of complaining out there about the lack of media coverage the NBL is getting. Stuff are doing okay with it and a lot of the regional papers are doing their bit but the Herald’s been basically radio silence on the matter and the telly news... well I don’t tend to watch the telly news so I legit don’t know either way. I did peek at the Herald Sport page on their website but it’s hard to traverse at the best of times and when you do the hover-over thing on the SPORT button it comes up with a bunch of sub-headings:
PREMIUM | RUGBY | CRICKET | NETBALL | LEAGUE | SAILING | FOOTBALL | RACING | ATHLETICS
Aaaaand that pretty much reminded me why I don’t read the Herald on the regular. Not to pick on them because their problems are pretty ingrained all over the wider scene but that list of priority sports says a lot. It says Generic New Zealand Establishment. The only basketball article on the main page is one of those infuriating things where they’re reporting on other people’s reporting. Sharing viral yarns from overseas. Steven Adams did a zoom call with some NBA media and it was a delight and thus the Herald are churning out the clicks for it. That’s one of those things that The Niche Cache just wouldn’t do. Like, we don’t have time to sit there repackaging other people’s work, if we can’t add something to a conversation then it ain’t worth doing. Here are a few of them OKC media folk serving up what you wanna hear, directly without the inane Herald commentary...
Goddamn the man is a national treasure. I’ve missed his sense of humour so much.
But anyway if your establishment considers sailing to be a higher priority than football then we’ve got some differences there. Which, no dramas, that’s kind why TNC exists. Hit us up on Patreon if you agree. But yeah basketball does seem to be in this strange position in Aotearoa. There’s the complaints about the lack of media coverage, there’s the continuing and strange snubbing of funding... both aspects completely out of line with the sport’s place as one of the rising forces in the country. I s’pose it goes back to that Herald list of priorities and the way that sports with a newer/younger fanbase can be treated pretty dismissively by the traditional gatekeepers. Luckily the internet exists now so we can just bypass those gatekeepers and do our own thing.
And the NBL has been great. Really loving it. Something about that overwhelming kiwi presence, especially with a lot of up and comers since the top tier dudes have conflicting contracts (understandable), which is really offering a spotlight to exciting guys who might not otherwise get that. From the players at the end of the rosters who wouldn’t have made it otherwise to the guys at the top who, in the absence of highest calibre imports, get to be leading dudes rather than just third options or whatever.
Taylor Britt has been immense for Canterbury. Sam Timmins had a great game last night. Derone Ruakawa has been superb whether on the ball or on the mic. Jayden Bezzant. Isaac Davidson. Izaya Mauriahoohoo-Leafa looked sharp on his debut and he’ll only get better with more reps. Taine Murray as well. Plus you’ve also got two fascinating cases with Jordan Ngatai and Tom Vodanovich who have been released by the Breakers but are going hundies to prove they still belong at that Aussie NBL level. Vodanovich in particular... I knew he was good because he was playing at a pretty high level last NBL season too but to be knocking down those three-pointers like he is, that’s just crazy.
Tom Vodanovich 2018-19 NBL NZ (Southland Sharks):
23.8 MIN | 12.2 PTS | 49.7% FG | 41.7% 3PT | 6.0 REB
Tom Vodanovich 2019-20 NBL AUS (NZ Breakers):
7.9 MIN | 1.9 PTS | 43.8% FG | 31.8% 3PT | 1.1 REB
So far through his first four games with the Manawatu Jets, he’s leading the league in points per game having bagged 28 points (Otago), 38 points (Auckland), 16 points (Nelson), and 25 points (Cantabs) in those games. Note that his shooting percentage was pretty excellent from deep last NBL season too but the difference there was that he was shooting 3.8 attempts per game. In this season he’s taking 11 triples a night. That’s probably too much unless he’s having a 10/15 night like he did against the Huskies but the fact that he did that once already kinda justifies the volume. All up he’s popped a league-leading 44 attempts yet he’s still knocking them down at better than 50%. Vods has made 23 threes. Jordan Ngatai is second with 14 made threes. It’s a wild one.
A few movies I’ve watched over the last few weeks that I’d slap a ‘Would Defs Recommend’ sticker on...
Reading Menu
Diary Of An Aotearoa Warriors Fan: The Friday Thing (NRL)
Breaking Down The Wellington Phoenix’s Return To Actual Football (Football)
#KiwiNRL Encyclopedia: Round Waru (NRL)
Flying Kiwis – June 30 (Football)