Flattering Comparisons
Victorious NZ Warriors weekend, Tyrell Harrison at Summer League, Flying Kiwis Transfer Tracker, Michael Boxall's long throws & more
Scotty’s Word
Fantastic weekend for NZ Warriors with four wins across the top four grades. I’ve run out of time to get more sports mahi done this morning so it’s mainly NZW stuff and a quick Blackcaps T20 update for me today.
Weekend results
NRL vs Tigers: 34-14
NRLW vs Eels: 14-0
NSW Cup vs Magpies: 22-14
Jersey Flegg Cup vs Tigers: 44-42
How they sit on ladders…
NRL: 4th | 11-5
NRLW: 8th | 1-1
NSW Cup: 1st | 16-1
Jersey Flegg Cup: 7th | 8-8-2
Key stats for NRL/NRLW
NRL (NZW | Tigers)
Average set distance: 38.8m | 36.5m
Average play the ball speed: 3.74s | 3.9s
Post contact metres per run: 3.1pcm | 2.5pcm
NRLW (NZW | Eels)
Average set distance: 41m | 38m
Average play the ball speed: 3.5s | 3.68s
Post contact metres per run: 2.9pcm | 2.6pcm
Tanah Boyd was awesome. Boyd's is the best kicker at Mt Smart which gave NZW a notable territory advantage over Tigers, as well as giving chasers time to compete for the footy or tackle the opposition as they catch the ball with the standard high kicks that are status-quo for the Andrew Webster Warriors.
Boyd was involved in every try. He didn't set all the tries up but he played his role which is to hold defenders in front of him by running a few steps and then give a crisp pass to either Taine Tuaupiki on the right or Chanel Harris-Tavita on the left. Two basic examples below on either edge that show how far Boyd runs towards the defence before passing - throwing accurate passes in both directions…
It's not easy to run forward quickly then slow down and twist the body to fire accurate passes in both directions. Boyd did it all game on both edges, along with a sublime kicking game.
Boyd missed a tackle on Adam Doueihi and Tigers scored a few tries down the NZW right edge. Tigers had overlaps in those cases and while they lack much of the NZW juice, Tigers are a super funky attacking team with various passers and shapes. NZW shut down a bunch of attacking motions from Tigers but their attacking quality still created overlaps and Boyd’s not to blame for that - Wayde Egan and Jackson Ford couldn’t tackle Doueihi either.
Fun fact: Boyd is 14-0 in NRL/NSW Cup this year.
Unfortunately for Rocco Berry, he is injury prone. Fortunately for NZW, versatility is one of their key strengths. Berry has played six games this season and NZW are 1-2 when he finishes those games, 3-0 when Berry leaves the field injured.
Kurt Capewell and Adam Pompey are excellent squad members because of their reliable versatility. Pompey played every game in 2023 and he's played every game this season, covering centre and wing. Against Tigers, Pompey started at left centre and when Berry left the field he move to right centre - with no clear drop off in performance.
Te Maire Martin was the direct replacement for Berry. He gave Dallin Watene-Zelezniak the final pass on the right edge soon after Berry left the field. After half-time when Martin was on the left edge he gave a similar pass to Leka Halasim (who has also covered centre). Against Tigers, Martin looked solid at centre playing on both sides of the field and NZW have ample positional versatility to cover any scenario in a game.
This was a feature of the crazy Jersey Flegg Cup win vs Tigers. Brandon Norris scored the winning try after switching from right wing to left centre. Left edge forward Jackson Kite got injured and Patrick Moimoi moved from left centre to left edge forward, Tallan Egan came off the bench to play right wing.
Peep the themes here because Norris is from Palmerston - just outside Darwin in Northern Territory. He was linked to Broncos for a few years but came to Aotearoa and has been awesome as a wing/centre. Add in the younger Egan brother from Lithgow and Jack Thompson from Cessnock (who might be the best emerging half at Mt Smart) for undercover examples of Aussie recruitment.
I’ll throw up Paea Sikuvea too. The Mangere East junior had the razzle dazzle below and was part of everything good in the comeback win. Sikuvea is a smaller forward who is doing the U19/U21 double again this year, playing both middle and edge. The U21s had Makaia Tafua, Etuate Fukofuka and Jeriko Filipi-Talisau on the field together as hooker/small forwards vs Tigers, with Sikuvea playing on the edge.
There are clear themes of player style, recruitment, development and identity through the NZW system. This is not the case for Wests Tigers and a few other NRL teams.
Warriors wahine love dummy half running. Here's all their dummy half runners vs Tigers...
Apii Nicholls: 2 runs - 13m @ 6.5m/run
Michaela Brake: 7 runs - 111m @ 15.8m/run
Tysha Ikenasio: 10 runs - 103m @ 10.3/run
Patricia Maliepo: 6 runs - 50m @ 8.3m/run
Capri Paekau: 4 runs - 38m @ 9.5m/run
Shakira Baker: 1 run - 10m
Lydia Turua-Quedley: 2 runs - 19m @ 9.5m/run
Paekau and Turua-Quedley are dummy halves. Maliepo (my favourite player) is a half who does most of the kicking and averages 125m/game in NRLW. The Brake/Ikenasio pocket is a funky coaching wrinkle because it makes the most of their running ability and follows on from their dummy half mahi vs Roosters...
Brake: 6 runs - 60m @ 10m/run
Ikenasio: 5 runs - 64m @ 12.8m/run
More NZW bits and bobs…
Chanel Harris-Tavita was below his averages but had one of his best games this season...
Kick metres: 69m vs Tigers | season average of 211.9
Run metres: 39m vs Tigers | season average of 69m
Receipts: 39 vs Tigers | season average of 43.4
Harris-Tavita has career highs for tries (7) and try assists (14) this season.
Taine Tuaupiki is 2-0 as fullback this year. Clear improvement in his tackling...
2023: 66.6%
2024: 76%
2025: 87.1%
James Fisher-Harris, Jackson Ford, Erin Clark had 40+ minutes, 10+ runs, 100+ metres and over 94% tackling vs Tigers.
Leka Halasima has a tackle break in all 16 games this year. 6th game playing 80mins.
Demitric Vaimauga has played 35+ minutes in 4 consecutive games. 3rd game with 100+ metres this season. 5 consecutive games with at least 1 offload.
Tanner Stowers-Smith had season high 26mins and 71m vs Tigers.
Eddie Ieremia-Toeava was 18th-man for NRL - 5th game as 18ther.
Apii Nicholls, Michaela Brake, Tysha Ikenasio, Patricia Maliepo all had 120+ metres vs Eels
Maliepo in NRLW: 1 try, 125m/game, 4 tackle breaks/game 38 receipts/game, 80.9% tackling.
Brake is averaging 169m/game in NRLW with an offload in both games.
Ikenasio is averaging 158m/game in NRLW.
Laishon Albert-Jones has career highs with 113m/game and 91.1% tackling.
Shakira Baker and Kaiyah Atai played full 70mins in both games - allowing the bench to roll through middle.
Ashlee Matapo is 18 years and has 27 tackles @ 100%.
U21s who played NSW Cup: Sio Kali, Luke Hanson, Jett Cleary, Kayliss Fatialofa, Jason Salalilo, Rodney Tuipulotu-Vea, Alvin Chong Nee
U19s who played Jersey Flegg Cup: Joseph Ratcliffe, Maui Winitana-Patelesio, Jack Thompson, Emosi Ravosai, Paea Sikuvea, Gordon Afoa, Tepatasi Laumalili
NRLWahine Spotlight: Winning Start For Bulldogs With Almost Half Their Team From Aotearoa
2025 New Zealand A Women's Tour Of England Debrief
Breaking Down The Blackcaps T20I Squad For Tri-Series In Zimbabwe
Blackcaps have called in Devon Conway, Mitch Hay, Jimmy Neesham and Tim Robinson to the T20 tri-series. Conway is the replacement for Finn Allen which makes sense and the others may just linger to give Blackcaps a bigger squad across the whole tri-series.
Here’s their recent mahi…
Devon Conway in MLC: 135 runs @ 33.7avg/127sr
Mitch Hay scores for NZ-A: 4, 38, 81, 18, 3
Jimmy Neesham in T20 Blast: 210 runs @ 26.2avg/146sr | 20w @ 17.7avg/8.8rpo
Tim Robinson scores in England: 43, 17, 55 (FC), 9, 9, 0 (T20)
Musical jam…
Wildcard’s Notebook
There is a better than zero percent chance that Tyrell Harrison gets an NBA contract this season. The Tall Blacks big man is one of three kiwis over at the Summer League right now but while Aniwaniway Tait-Jones (Toronto) and Sam Mennenga (LA Lakers) have been getting DNPs... Harrison has started both games for the Denver Nuggets and gotten significant minutes. Not only that but he’s had a huge impact on the team’s best moments: in game one, he was +13 in a loss; in game two, he was -3 in an 11-point defeat.
Tyrell Harrison in NBA Summer League
vs Milwaukee (Lost by 1):
24 MIN | 13 PTS (5/8 FG) | 8 REB (3 OFF) | 1 AST | 1 STL
vs Minnesota (Lost by 11):
24 MIN | 10 PTS (4/6 FG) | 5 REB (3 OFF) | 1 AST | 1 STL | 2 BLK
Those are excellent numbers that show and this experience could easily go deeper. The Nuggets just traded for Jonas Valanciunas (the bloke that Memphis sent out in exchange for Steven Adams a few years ago), which is a funky addition given how they’ve already got the best centre in basketball on their team: Nikola Jokic. Part of that is trying to build up depth in that position so that Jokic can get more rest - JV is on a $10.4m deal this season and played 17mpg behind Domantas Sabonis in Sacramento last season so he’s a fitting candidate for that role.
But it seems likely that he’ll also be getting court time alongside Jokic in a response to the Houston Rockets double big line-up with Steven Adams and Alperen Sengun that blew everyone away last season (and which the Rockets have made clear they intend to ramp up even more this term). If that’s the case then they’ll need more centre depth in the squad than what they’ve currently got. Even the Rockets went and signed Clint Capela.
In other words, Denver is already trying to mimic a Steven Adams role for their backup centre, they might be seeking to mimic Adams’ Double Big party trick, and it’d make sense to try and find a mini-Steve for their empty two-way contract spot. Harrison’s a clued-up joker. He’s been out there defending the paint, grabbing offensive boards, and setting hard screens for the Nuggs in Summer League to exaggerate the flattering comparison... heck, he’s even grown his hair out.
As it stands, Denver’s only contracted centre behind Jokic and Valanciunas is second-year player DaRon Holmes - who tore his achilles during last year’s Summer League and is only just coming back. Holmes can also play power forward hence he’s gotten minutes alongside Harrison as well as being his main alternative at the five during this Summer League. They’ve released DeAndre Jordan and traded Dario Saric. They’re also right up snug against the salary cap in a weak free agency market so acquiring another reserve centre by that means isn’t really feasible. Plus there’s longer-term friskiness with Jokic delaying talks over a new deal until next year and Valanciunas apparently preferring a move to Greece rather than another backup year in the NBA (although his contract means he doesn’t have a choice). There’s a spot for Harrison if they like what they see.
Harrison is under contract to return for a ninth season with the Brisbane Bullets, the team that he’s played his entire Aussie NBL career with – starting as a young development player and building up to a couple of massive breakthrough efforts in recent years including winning the NBL’s Most Improved Player award last campaign. He went to Puerto Rico to play for Indios de Mayaguez during the offseason but left early after getting tapped up by an NBA Summer League opportunity. This has been brewing for him.
Incredible things are happening in Major League Soccer where Minnesota United is leading a set piece revolution with Michael Boxall’s long throws right at the heart of it. The Loons are coached by Eric Ramsay, a 33yo Englishman who was formerly an assistant at Manchester United (this is his first head coaching role), and in an era where possession is seen as essential... his team pump the ball into the mixer more than any other team in America (or most other countries for that matter). Whether it’s their curling free kicks and corners, the Boxy long throws, or getting their keeper to hurl it into the box from halfway. Any opportunity they can get to rough things up, they take it.
The Loons won 3-1 against San Jose on the weekend and none of those goals came from Boxy throw-ins (although two did come from corners). But they’d scored via one of his throws in three consecutive games beforehand. Every time it was a flick-on header at the near post and then a finish at the back post. All up they’ve scored six goals off throw-ins this season and nearly a third of their overall goals have come within 45 seconds of a long throw or deep free kick. The Guardian published a feature on the phenomenon last week.
We’ve probably already hit the saturation point where opposition teams realise what’s going on and start pulling extra players back to withstand it. Whether that makes a difference, who knows. They were at home against San Jose, so whenever Boxall jogged forward to take a throw-in the crowd rose and cheered with anticipation. They’ve turned throw-ins into excitable moments.
Now just imagine what that might look like with guys like Chris Wood, Ben Waine, Marko Stamenic, Max Mata, Tim Payne, Tyler Bindon, or Finn Surman on the end of them. Darren Bazeley already saw the Francis De Vries scythe-crosses and incorporated those into his All Whites repertoire. There’s no doubt at all that he’s tracking the Boxy Long Throws with a similar gaze.
Flying Kiwis Transfer Tracker
Durham haven’t gotten around to announcing Hannah Blake’s re-signing but she’s been prominent in lots of their social media stuff since they got back into preseason so obviously we can tick that one off the list. Mickey Foster already signed a new deal with the club for next season. Similarly, there’s been no announcement of a new Katie Bowen contract at Inter but she was pictured with the team as they got preseason underway and that’ll do. Big news there because Inter are in line for Champions League footy this season following their awesome run last term.
It’s also no longer clear whether Suya Haering is staying with Turbine Potsdam post-relegation in Germany. She wasn’t one of the numerous players announced to be leaving when the season ended – a list that included Maya Hahn who has since joined Viktoria Berlin – but she’s also no longer listed on the club’s website (they only have 14 contracted players) and Soccerdonna has her as a free agent (an unreliable source, though it’s a German website so that’s where it’s most accurate). It would be so much easier if professional clubs did the basics when it comes to communication but that’s clearly too much to ask. Haering would join Olivia Page (ex-Sheffield United) and a couple others from last year’s U20 World Cup squad who had professional gigs but are now free agents.
Kiara Bercelli is another one. She played Serie A with relegated Sampdoria last season but the club has chosen not to register the team in Serie B for financial reasons. They’ll probably still have a team but lower down in the amateur ranks... hence Bercelli probably won’t be there, nor most anyone else from that squad. And then there’s also Zoe McMeeken. She’s been with the Wellington Phoenix for all four seasons but they’ve said she won’t be re-signed, with ZM’s farewell announcement including the words: “I’m excited to take what I’ve learned to a new environment to push myself overseas even further”. Overseas could mean A-League or it could mean further abroad. She was frustratingly underused last season hence it was probably time for something else. That leaves Mackenzie Barry and Alyssa Whinham as the last two foundation players at the Nix. Midfielder Amelia Abbott was also released, she’s already been playing with Waterside Karori for a couple of months.
In NZ-adjacent transfer news, one of the prices of success in football, especially as one of the clubs outside the usual financial powerhouses, is that your players are very quickly going to become targets for those financial powerhouses. Nottingham Forest’s best season in decades has taken them into the Europa Conference League with Chris Wood’s 20 Premier League goals proving one of the decisive factors. Woodsy’s already re-signed with NFFC but alas Anthony Elanga (Newcastle) and Morgan Gibbs-White (Spurs) would appear to be on their way out. Forest will be recuperated over a hundy million pounds in return which will clear their financial fair play situation for years to come... but between Elanga and MGW are eight of the assists for Wood’s 20 goals (Elanga with five, MGW with three). That’s a gigantic blow to Wood’s service. Elanga’s officially gone but Forest are narking on the MGW approach which could drag along.
On the plus side, Marko Stamenic played 45 minutes for Forest in their opening preseason fixture. It was a 0-0 draw against Chesterfield which also meant going head to head with Matt Dibley-Dias (who played 60 mins in his second friendly for his new loan team). Stamenic was one of four players in the starting eleven who spent last season out on loan, joining David Carmo (who was at Olympiacos with Stamenic), Omar Richards (Rio Ave), and Dale Taylor (Wigan) in that bag. Most of Forest’s top players are still on extended breaks or simply weren’t used in this friendly (including Wood) so Stamenic was playing alongside a mostly second-eleven group with a bench predominantly of academy lads. He’s still likely to go out on loan... but this does suggest there’s at least a small chance that he might not (Tyrell Harrison NBA minutes vs Marko Stamenic EPL minutes would make for a sneaky punt). The real truth will come as the first-choice players filter back into later friendlies.
Also, if anyone’s heard anything from Matthew Garbett, giz a yell. He was told to look for a new club in January and has been a free agent for two full weeks and still there hasn’t even been a whisper.
Musical Jam...