Enduring The Niggle

White Ferns/Blackcaps confidence, All Whites WCQ Thoughts, and plenty of Kiwi-NRL angles

The Niche Cache

Mar 18, 2022

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Scotty’s Word

White Ferns/Blackcaps Confidence…

We all need a bit of confidence and Aotearoa’s national cricket teams provide interesting examples of confidence to observe, then learn from. The Thursday night banger in Hamilton between Aotearoa and South Africa was another fun World Cup fixture, which is where we need to start.

I don’t know or care what the latest crowd capacity figures are. Folks are at these games and not just Aotearoa games, kiwis are at all these World Cup games. All types of folks are at these games; girls and boys playing cricket on the hill, parents enjoying the vibe and vista. People from different cultures there to watch cricket and enjoy the best in the world doing what they love to do.

Sports isn’t free of political influence or the dark arts of humanity. We do overlook how lovely it is to watch sport at the highest level featuring people from a wide variety of society. A society that uses these different backgrounds and preferences to divide, then you plop down on the couch to watch a Women’s World Cup game and these things bring folks together.

Aotearoa also loves cricket. The White Ferns campaign has stopped off in Tauranga, Dunedin, Wellington and Hamilton. Next stop Auckland vs England … a … must … win … game! The elevated vibe of a game against Australia saw the Basin Reserve (home of the Wellington Blaze Super Smash dynasty) faithful up the ante. Things escalated further at Seddon Park against South Africa and I would suggest Aucklanders are frothing for high quality live action.

Fans provide energy. Players provide energy. Energy swirls around, whether it’s a grassed arena or concrete. Ebbs and flows are amplified.

Wellington’s game vs Australia was all about Ash Gardner snatching the Basin Reserve soul. Nek minute Aotearoa are all out for 128 chasing 269. Aotearoa are now 0-10 vs Australia since the last World Cup. A lot goes into a game of cricket, I’m just zoning in on what I feel and observe; as Gardner smashed BIG sixes, everything changed.

Hamilton’s game vs South Africa is more similar to Tauranga vs WI. Both games saw Aotearoa enjoy moments, phases even stanzas of strength and couldn’t sustain that. From my ‘deep in the mangroves’ perspective, I never felt confident of victory.

Against SA, Sophie Devine played another leader-mana knock in a loss (93 runs @ 92sr). Aotearoa was 198/5 when Devine was dismissed (40.2ov), nek minute all out for 228 in less than 48 overs. Maddy Green was run-out on 30 off 58 deliveries, both her and Devine were set. Everyone watching would have been hoping for big hitting, those at Seddon Park were enjoying the slow ‘rpo’ rising tempo. Thoughts of maybe 300+ with Devine slugging become 250's hard to chase, then let’s bat out the innings.

Then damn, wtf.

Aotearoa responded as best as they could with the ball. Amelia Kerr currently exists on a different level to any other WF (hot take) and her intensity with the ball, in the field is what dragged Aotearoa back into the contest. A contest that SA were in control of, knocking ones and twos around via Laura Wolvaardt and Sune Luus. Then Kerr changed the game and her intensity was palpable.

SA toured Aotearoa prior to the pandy in 2020 and rolled the kiwis in all three games. SA won an ODI series in Aotearoa 3-0, with winning margins of 7w, 8w and 6w.

For context, in 2016 Aotearoa toured SA and won the series 5-2 (7 gamer!). This lines up perfectly with the White Ferns decline. No one cared when SA swept Aotearoa. No one cared that Aotearoa was losing most games prior to that fun warm up series vs India.

Losing doesn’t do anything to help confidence and all the White Ferns have done is lose games. This has dented the dominant vibe of the best players, while the young players have barely racked up big runs or wickets in domestic cricket. Players in the White Ferns have not built up their confidence through domestic cricket dominance, so where is their confidence for big World Cup games?

Not to mention the specific SA example. SA are grizzly, rugged and extremely talented. They know they can beat anyone. They know they can beat Aotearoa because they cruised to a 3-0 sweep last time they were here.

Frances Mackay didn’t play game tahi and has established herself as a key figure. Mackay knows who she is, what she does, and how she does it. Mackay has been through the confidence washing machine and has dominated domestic cricket.

Dane Cleaver and Michael Bracewell have dominated domestic cricket at various stages since making their First-Class debuts in 2011. That’s the difference between White Ferns and Blackcaps. Will Young, Tom Blundell, Matt Henry, Devon Conway and Kyle Jamieson have all endured the niggle on their respective career waves. Blokes only in the ODI/T20I frame are consistently performing around the world against the best which when combined with Aotearoa legends, is a recipe for winning. Winning breeds confidence.

How this looks for another epic game against England intrigues me. England lost their first three games but have deeply embedded confidence, now coming off a win. Aotearoa can nip this in the bud with a win on the biggest stage so far, knocking England out of the World Cup.

The best thing about hosting World Cups is the connection between fans and the team. Think about all the energy shared between fans, then folks who don’t care but start to care and the Blackcaps in 2015 or the All Blacks in 2011. Those were amazing periods because of the connection and the flip-side applies for the 2017 Rugby League World Cup. Things get weird when that shared energy is fluffed with.

So far this has been evident in losses to Australia and South Africa. We have wahine football and rugby union World Cups coming up too, so get comfy with the tension.

Dane Cleaver/Michael Bracewell…

Nothing crazy stands out about Dane Cleaver and Michael Bracewell’s stats. Sure, both had impressive Super Smash campaigns but they have also had very quiet seasons in T20. That applies to their Ford Trophy and Plunket Shield mahi as well. Disgusting dominance then not much and this is why neither has been selected prior to these Netherlands fixtures.

Both are excellent cricketers though, lads who came up alongside all these other Blackcaps. No fuss, team-first blokes. Multi-skilled. Big hitters and crafty. Mature. Mellow. Cricketing bloodlines (Cleaver is Kane Williamson’s cousin, how about the Bracewell whanau??). Pretty damn impressive depth.

Young players will do what Rachin Ravindra did in bucking the trend. There is however a clear Blackcaps trend and this simply feels conducive to winning for this team. Bit of a South Africa/Australia wahine vibe.

Nasty NAS in your area…

On February 3rd, Melbourne Storm reported that Nelson Asofa-Solomona was back at training. Having been absent via pandemic things from summer training, Asofa-Solomona had to maintain a Storm level of training away from the NRL squad. Then he had to show that in training with the NRL squad and here are his first two games this season…

vs Tigers: 41mins, 13 runs - 130m @ 10m/run, 4 tb, 2 offloads, 17 tackles @ 85%.

vs Rabbitohs: 38mins, 15 runs - 112m @ 7.46m/run, 1 tb, 2 offloads, 23 tackles @ 92%.

Storm are 2-0 to start the season. Asofa-Solomona, Jesse and Kenny Bromwich are certain World Cup selections. Former Aotearoa Sevens rep Will Warbrick is yet to play but was named on the extended bench and should lace up for Sunshine Coast Falcons in Queensland Cup.

Waikato/BOP Kiwi-NRL Juniors…

Thanks to Adrian Lepou for these deep cuts from the Waikato/Bay of Plenty region. Tamakaimoana Whareaorere (Te Puke) is again named on an edge for Redcliffe Warriors Under 18. Harry Durbin (Pikiao Warriors) is named on the bench for Souths Logan U18. Jackson Lepou (Otumoetai Eels) is named at hooker for Tweed Heads Seagulls U18). Te umu ariki heremia Tukere (Turangawaewae) is named starting winger for Illawara Steelers U19. Tome Poona (Pikiao Warriors) is yet to start U21s with Redcliffe and Apanui Twidle (Turangawaewae) is with Souths Logan.

Kiwi-NRL Junior Flex…

To double down on Kiwi-NRL junior stuff, the lads named above are all playing alongside other Kiwi-NRL juniors this weekend and most rounds. Whareaorere is playing with Jacob Laban for Redcliffe, Durbin is with Nathaniel Tangimataiti for Souths Logan, Lepou is with Keano Kini for Tweed. Alongside Tukere with Illawara is Navajo Doyle.

These Kiwi-NRL roots run deep like some stanky reggae dub.

Friday laid back jam…

Wildcard’s Notebook

A Weekend’s Footballing Platter

Just prior to writing this, I got through one of the stranger Premier League games I’ve ever seen. Chris Wood and Newcastle up against Everton, largely bossing the game after an even first quarter of an hour but unable to create much better than a couple lurching Woodsman headers. Albeit a high-paced and direct game with plenty of scrappy action going on.

Then a fella ran onto the pitch early second half and cable-tied himself by his neck to one of the goal-posts. He was protesting the use of fossil fuels – which, fair play, can’t argue with that logic even if the method of protest was a bit odd. It took almost ten minutes to cut him loose via a bunch of old portly stewards messing about with some oversized but understrength bolt cutters. Then it seemed as though a fan in the stands ran onto the pitch and punched the protester after they freed him which was clearly not necessary.

Anyway, the game carried on its way and Everton were just coming back into the hunt when Allan went in hard and late on Allan Saint-Maximin and after a peek by VAR they upgraded his yellow to a red card. Felt like a yellow and a half to me – red was a bit harsh, yellow wasn’t harsh enough. Someone’s gonna be pissed either way... and Everton didn’t handle it too well with some of their dissent. Yet Newcastle still couldn’t take advantage against ten men and then deep into the fourteen allotted injury time minutes Alex Iwobi worked a give and go with Dominic Calvert-Lewin and then slid home a 99th minute winner.

Would have been more fun if Chris Wood had scored a hatty. Especially given how that would have ushered in what is going to be an incredible weekend of kiwi football. There was that game. Then tonight at 9.45pm the Wellington Phoenix face the Newcastle Jets. A very tricky match in which a whopping eight players are unavailable. Alex Rufer, Reno Piscopo, and Oskar van Hattum are all injured. David Ball is suspended. Ben Waine, Ben Old, Clayton Lewis, and Oli Sail are all with the All Whites. There are only 18 guys within the wider squad left, including the academy youngsters, which should at least make it easy to pick a team. I’d like to see something along these lines...

Paulsen
Fenton, Wootton, Payne, Sutton
Pennington, Laws
Sandoval, McGarry
Hooper, Sotirio

Which is still a pretty decent team. Keeping as much consistency in the back four as possible (whilst having to move one of them into midfield) gives them a decent base, while they still have the two best creative players in the team available in Hooper and Sandoval. And I reckon nudging McGarry into an attacking position, like he played in his younger days, could be a sneaky success (although Uffie has hinted at Sutton 10, McGarry LB instead).

That All Whites game is on at 3am NZT on Saturday against Papua New Guinea. The rest of their group stage games are on Tuesday vs Fiji and Friday vs New Caledonia – both at 6am NZT. More on the All Whites in a second but as you know many of their players aren’t able to join up with the squad until the international window actually opens, which is after this weekend’s fixtures. Meaning a heap of watchable footy games over the next few days, including but not limited to...

Shamrock Rovers vs Sligo Rovers, Saturday at 8.45am (Nando Pijnaker & Max Mata)
FC Helsingør vs Jammerbugt, Sunday at 3am (Callum McCowatt & Eli Just)
St Mirren vs Dundee United, Sunday at 4am (Alex Greive)
North Carolina Courage vs Gotham FC (Abby Erceg & Katie Bowen)
Minnesota United vs SJ Earthquakes, Sunday at 1pm (Michael Boxall)
FC Dallas vs Portland Timbres, Sunday at 1.30pm (Bill Tuiloma)
Angel City vs San Diego Wave, Sunday at 2pm (Ali Riley)
Melbourne City vs Melbourne Victory, Sunday at 6.05pm (Hannah Wilkinson, Rebekah Stott, Marisa van der Meer & Claudia Bunge)
AaB vs Brøndby, Monday at 2.30am (Joe Bell)
Empoli vs Hellas Verona, Monday at 3am (Libby Cacace)

Five Things To Watch For From The All Whites WCQs

1) Red Sky Reid

That evening glow, the shepherd’s delight, portending of a glorious day to follow. Winston Reid’s international career began around that 2010 World Cup where he was the young prodigy under the guidance of Ryan Nelsen’s immense leadership. Now a dozen years later he’s in the Nelsen role and seeking to help an emerging golden generation of All Whites back to another World Cup.

Whoever comes through this Oceania phase will have a single-legged playoff in June (also in Qatar) against the fourth-placed CONCACAF team... which will probably be Costa Rica or Panama. It’s the best chance that Aotearoa has had to qualify since that 2010 edition and Winston knows that. He’s held himself back from signing with a new club which may or may not have been intentional but regardless it does mean that he’s fully available for this entire tournament. Having had to sacrifice All Whites stuff so often during his West Ham years, now he’s fully invested in making up for lost time. Danny Hay has reiterated how supremely fit he looks. It’s going to be a beautiful journey.

2) All About That Squad Depth

I don’t really care about the footballing implications of the international window overlap. It’s a ridiculous thing from an admin level but it shouldn't form any sort of excuse for the All Whites in terms of advancing through the comp. In fact it could even be a secret blessing as they get to have a larger squad which spreads out the minutes and should keep those key players fresher for the crucial knockout stages.

Plus it’s an opportunity to see a few guys who haven’t had this chance before. Oli Sail finally making a senior debut. Kosta Barbarouses returning for the first time since the Peru intercontinentals in November 2017. Young dudes like Ben Waine and Ben Old. Winston Reid might be the only first choice player in the team that faces Papua New Guinea which means full international experience for a lot of guys competing to be backups. You never know what might happen come World Cup time. Anyone could get injured thus you always need to have someone ready to step up. The All Whites don’t play regularly enough to have very many of these games where they can rotate, definitely not fully capped games, so there will be some very hungry dudes seeking statement performances. I’m thinking of blokes like Andre De Jong, Matt Garbett, Joey Champness, Barbarouses, Sail, etc.

3) Centrebackery

Danny Hay has ended a few games with back threes but he has always started with a four – don’t expect any Anthony Hudson shenanigans with spoiler tactics. He’s also yet to name the same CB partnership twice and we’re guaranteed at least one more addition to that in his seventh game in charge...

Ireland, Nov 2019 (L 3-1): Reid & M.Boxall
Lithuania, Nov 2019 (L 1-0): Tuiloma & Smith
Curacao, Oct 2021 (W 2-1): Tuiloma & Pijnaker
Bahrain, Oct 2021 (W 1-0): M.Boxall & Pijnaker
The Gambia, Nov 2021 (W 2-0): Reid & Pijnaker
Jordan, Jan 2022 (L 3-1): Reid & Payne

Winston Reid is the only one of those guys there for the first game. Pijanker and Payne should arrive by game two and Tuiloma will be touch and go on that front (probably there, maybe not in time to play?). So could be a Reid and Smith duo against PNG. Nikko Boxall with Francis De Vries an alternative option. Either way that’ll be seven new pairings in a row. At full strength I’d still lean on Reid and M.Boxall as the best combo though Nando Pijnaker’s left foot and his red hot club form probably tilts it in his favour.

4) The Woodsman Delivers

Chris Wood is only one goal behind Vaughan Coveny’s all-time record of 29 international goals for the All Whites. He should have broken that record a couple years ago but for the team going on hiatus during the pandemic, though he’s made up for lost time with four goals across the last four fixtures. He’ll be in there against Fiji for game two thanks to Newcastle’s game with Crystal Palace having been postponed for FA Cup weekend (Palace play Everton in the quarters on Monday morning).

Wood is going to break that record during this tournament (touch wood, lol) and it’s going to be well overdue for a guy who is not only an outstanding goal scorer but who has always prioritised representing his country whenever possible. The last time he played against an Oceania opponent was in January of 2017 when he scored a hatty against the Solomon Islands. He has scored 15 goals in 21 games against OFC opponents all up. He deserves to not only break the record but to shatter it... let’s see the man get to fifty.

And tell ya what else, when he’s got that record in the bag he oughta be targeting Ivan Vicelich’s appearance record next. Only 27 caps behind. Best case scenario we qualify for the World Cup and he shrinks that gap by about ten more caps before the end of this year.

The Niche Cache @thenichecache

🗣️ Shifting the conversation 🗣️ #AllWhites #OceaniaQualifiers #FlyingKiwis

5) Kosta

Also thinking a bit about Kosta Barbarouses’ international career. He’s definitely going to play the first game and might still be there for the second, see how it goes with others arriving, but that’s it. Meaning he’ll have to wait a wee while longer for a major milestone: his 50th All Whites cap. He’s currently three games away. Some of the sources I’ve used have different tallies on cap numbers for whatever reason but pretty sure he’d be the 18th bloke to reach that milestone for Aotearoa.

Kosta’s has had a glittering club career, winning four separate A-League championships, but the timing’s never been great for him and the All Whites. He debuted for the All Whites earlier than anyone else in the current reckoning, way back in 2008 in a 2-0 loss to Fiji – the infamous game in which Glenn Moss was sent off, causing him to be suspended for the first couple games of the World Cup. But unlike Wood, Reid, and Smith, Barbarouses would be one of the unluckiest exclusions of that 2010 World Cup squad, only named as a non-travelling reserve. The peak of his career coincided with Anthony Hudson (I can remember one game where he got stuck at right wing-back). Already mentioned that Barbarouses hasn’t featured since November 2017. He’s also only scored four times for NZ which is a bit crazy. If he were five years younger or five years older he could have had a much different international career.

But the story isn’t finished yet. This dude’s paid some dues and, like Winston Reid, probably feels he has some unfinished business to attend to with this team. Funky thing is, Barbarouses is only 32 years old and Reid is only 33. Not exactly on their last legs. Definitely hoping for some resurgent Kosta stuff against PNG.

El Niche Cache

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