Fuel For The Fire
Domestic cricket things, National League youngsters, NZ A-League derby, Kiwi-NRL summer guide notes, Football Ferns coaching speculation, Breakers tumbles & more
Podcast
Subscribe: Apple | Spotify | Youtube
Reading Menu
Exploring Otago's Dominant Start To The 2024/25 HBJ Shield Season (Cricket)
2024/25 Plunket Shield: More Rhys Mariu Runs & Northern Districts Six Hitting (Cricket)
2024/25 HBJ Shield: Bella James & Otago In A Groove (Cricket)
The Most Impressive Young New Zealand Domestic Cricketers Early In The 2024/25 Summer (Cricket)
Checking In With Auckland FC’s Inaugural Preseason Activities (Football)
Catching Up With How The Wellington Phoenix Offseason’s Been Going (Football)
Auckland FC Signing Tracker & Squad Profiles (Football)
Admiring The Wellington Phoenix’s Blossoming Academy Pathways (Football)
The Breakers Are No Longer Coached By Mody Maor (Basketball)
How Have Those NZ Breakers Next Star Lads Been Tracking Since Their NBA Drafts? (Basketball)
Why Aren't The New Zealand Breakers Signing New Zealand Players? (Basketball)
A New Australian NBL Season Looms And Once Again It’s Chock-Full Of Kiwi Players (Basketball)
Scotty’s Word
Domestic cricket things...
Otago women are 4-0 in HBJ Shield. Otago men are last in Plunket Shield (0-1-2) and fourth in Ford Trophy (2-3). Otago women won last summer's HBJ Shield (6-3). Otago men finished fifth in Plunket Shield (1-5) and second in Ford Trophy (5-3)
Defending champions Wellington (0-2-1) join Otago in not winning a Plunket Shield game yet. Wellington is third in Ford Trophy (2-2) and last in HBJ Shield (1-3). Last season Wellington went 4-0-4 in Plunket Shield, last in Ford Trophy (2-6) and second in HBJ Shield (7-3).
16 bowlers have 8+ wickets in Plunket Shield and Jayden Lennox is the only spinner.
15 bowlers have 5+ wickets in HBJ Shield and seven are spinners.
Best Plunket Shield spinners
Michael Rippon (Canterbury): 7w @ 27avg/4rpo
Peter Younghusband (Wellington): 5w @ 58avg/2.9rpo
Ajaz Patel (CD): 4w @ 42.7avg/3.3rpo
Best HBJ Shield seamers
Rosemary Mair (CD): 9w @ 9.5avg/4.3rpo
Molly Penfold (Auckland): 9w @ 18avg/5rpo
Bree Illing (Auckland): 8w @ 18avg/3.9rpo
Louisa Kotkamp (Otago): 6w @ 10.8avg/3.8rpo
Hayley Jensen (Otago): 6w @ 13avg/2.4rpo
Jess Kerr (Wellington): 6w @ 19.5avg/3.2rpo
Best batting strike-rates
150+ runs in Plunket Shield
Brett Hampton (ND): 235 runs @ 100sr
Mark Chapman (Auckland): 276 runs @ 84.9sr
Rhys Mariu (Canterbury): 433 runs @ 74.9sr
Matt Boyle (Canterbury): 191 runs @ 70.7sr
100+ runs in HBJ Shield
Jess Watkin (ND): 118 runs @ 90sr
Lauren Down (Auckland): 178 runs @ 89.8sr
Maddy Green (Auckland): 238 runs @ 88.8sr
Bella James (Otago): 246 runs @ 87.8sr
Best bowling economy rates...
8+ wickets in Plunket Shield
Jayden Lennox (CD): 8w @ 2.2rpo
Michael Snedden (Wellington): 8w @ 2.4
Blair Tickner (CD): 13w @ 2.6rpo
Luke Georgeson (Otago): 9w @ 2.7rpo
Brett Randell (CD): 8w @ 2.8rpo
5+ wickets in HBJ Shield
Hayley Jensen (Otago): 6w @ 2.4pro
Eden Carson (Otago): 6w @ 2.5rpo
Jess Kerr (Wellington): 6w @ 3.2rpo
Xara Jetly (Wellington): 9w @ 3.3rpo
Brett Hampton low down
2024/25 Plunket Shield
Bat: 235 runs @ 58.7avg/100sr - 7th
Ball: 13w @ 16.9avg/3rpo - 1st
2024/25 Ford Trophy
Bat: 161 runs @ 40.2avg/117sr - 10th
Ball: 6w @ 29.5avg/5.7rpo - 17th
Career
FC: 30.6avg/76sr | 26.7avg/3.1rpo
LA: 34.7avg/108.5sr | 35.9avg/5.3rpo
T20: 15.3avg/123sr | 20.4avg/9rpo
Notable lefties in HBJ Shield
Bree Illing (Auckland) lefty seamer. 25.9avg/4.6rpo in List-A career and 39.4avg/6.5rpo in T20s.
Yasmeen Kareem (ND) lefty batter. Seventh for HBJ Shield runs with 139 runs @ 38.2avg/69sr and had her first 50+ score of her career last weekend. LA career record of 22.5avg/51sr.
Flora Devonshire (CD) lefty spinner/batter. 84 runs @ 21avg/64sr with the bat and 3w @ 37avg/5.8rpo with the ball in HBJ Shield. Hit her first 50+ score last weekend. Averaging below 16 with the bat in both formats, 38 with the ball in LA and 22 in T20 bowling.
My prep mahi for the next Kiwi-NRL Summer Guide...
Newcastle Knights
Top-30: Sebastian Sua (Mt Albert), Francis Manuleleua (Papatoetoe)
Supplementary: Tyrone Thompson (Maraenui)
Train/Trial: Elijah Salesa-Leaumoana (Mangere East), Haami Loza (Mangere East), Bailey Carmichael (Te Puke)
Curious about: Sosaia Latu (Mangere East), Te Kaio Cranwell (Linwood), Jarome Falemoe (Mangere East)
Manly Sea Eagles
Top-30: Raymond Tuaimalo-Vaega (Marist)
Supplementary: D'Jazirhae Pua'avase (Manurewa)
Train/Trial: Devante Mihinui (Glenora)
Curious about: Oliver Lawry (West Coast/Halswell)
South Sydney Rabbitohs
No Kiwi-NRL lads in Top-30/Supplementary but Rabbitohs do the best mahi in laying out all their squad info, something every NRL can and should do but don't. Nazareth Taua (Marist) doesn't appear on those lists but he is definitely there and will be pushing for NSW Cup game time next year.
Train/Trial: Salesi Ataata (Otahuhu)
Sydney Roosters
Diminished Kiwi-NRL crew in Top-30/Supplementary tiers. Only got Brandon Smith (Waiheke), Naufahu Whyte (Bay Roskill), Siua Wong (Burnham/Manurewa), Junior Pauga (Glenora).
Train/trial: Benaiah Ioelu (Howick/Mt Albert)
Curious about: Salesi Foketi (Manurewa) is likely to be in between NSW Cup/NRL. Lafi Tuinauvai (Waitemata) could be pushing for NSW Cup after playing two years of NSW Cup (four years in Roosters system).
Musical jam…
Wildcard’s Notebook
There’s the not-so-small matter of the second kiwi A-League derby happening this weekend. Auckland FC vs Wellington Phoenix at Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland. Sweet as. AFC won the first meeting 2-0 though both of those were late goals after a very tight game that could have gone either way or neither way. Both teams have named borderline full-strength squads with Tim Payne, Sam Sutton, and Hiroki Sakai all back in contention. Fin Roa Conchie is the only injured player for either side. Don’t necessarily read too much into the Ins & Outs stuff though... as we learned last time when Alex Rufer defied the doctors to play ninety minutes despite having been “ruled out” a couple days earlier.
A couple of key head-to-heads that I’ll be tracking in this game are:
Louis Verstraete vs Alex Rufer for that defensive midfield crown
Sam Sutton vs Francis de Vries for the All Whites backup left-back role (note that Dalton Wilkins and James McGarry have gotten back to playing footy lately so that reserve LB spot is extremely hectic right now)
Alex Paulsen against Wellington Phoenix again... seeking to add to his 738-minute streak without conceding at senior professional level (aka, the end of the Welly Nix season, his three All Whites caps, and this AFC stuff)
The coaching chess match between Steve Corica and Giancarlo Italiano, of course
And then also, feeding off that last point, how the two benches are used... with the potential for dudes like Marco Rojas, Stefan Colakovski, and Neyder Moreno all possibly up the sleeves
Another extremely curious fact about these two in-form teams is that Auckland United have scored six of their eight goals after the 70th minute of matches (and five of those after the 80th minute – including three result-altering goals)... whereas the Wellington Phoenix have scored seven goals and six of them have come prior to the 55th minute with the exception being Kosta Barbarouses’ 82nd minute winner against Melbourne Victory in the last game they played. Five of the Nix’s seven goals have come in the 35-55 minute range.
Also, per something Chiefy said in his press conference, these are the games that each team has played so far, with their current placing and points tallies in brackets…
Auckland FC:
Won 2-0 vs Brisbane Roar (13th/1pt) - Home
Won 1-0 vs Sydney FC (6th/9pts) - Home
Won 2-0 vs Wellington Phoenix (4th/10pts) - Away
Won 1-0 vs Macarthur (7th/7pts) - Neutral
Won 2-0 vs Newcastle Jets (11th/3pts) - Home
Wellington Phoenix:
Drew 1-1 vs Western United (10th/5pts) - Home
Won 2-0 vs Perth Glory (12th/2pts) - Away
Lost 0-2 vs Auckland FC (1st/15pts) - Home
Won 3-0 vs Central Coast (9th/6pts) - Away
Won 1-0 vs Melbourne Victory (2nd/13pts) - Neutral
There’s no doubt that the Nix have had the tougher fixtures so far, already having met both of last season’s finalists away from home (well, one away and one unite round neutral). But then the obvious retort is that AFC beat them on their own turf so take that. All more fuel to the fire.
Meanwhile, Alivia Kelly is on course to debut for the Wellington Phoenix in the ALW as they return from a week off for the international break. Ela Jerez isn’t in the squad so she won’t be getting a debut for her 17th birthday. Looks like Brooke Neary will be on the bench again with backup keeper Aimee Danieli still missing after a head knock. Annalie Longo should be clear to play... whereas Brisbane Roar will be without Sharn Freier and Tameka Yallop due to the Matildas somehow cramming in four games in one window. Two against Brazil and two against Chinese Taipei (they picked a 36-player squad – leading to more A-League call ups than usual... including ex-Nixer Isabel Gomez).
The Niche Cache is funded by generous kiwis who love sport. Please consider joining the Patreon whanau or upgrading to a paid Substack salute where you can access our weekly bonus podcast.
Another big loss for the NZ Breakers last night, getting thrashed 97-70 in Christchurch against Melbourne United thanks largely to a seven-point third quarter. This continues the capitulating trend of late, with this 27-point defeat following an 11-point loss to Perth and a 38-point loss to Illawarra. All since they brought in Tacko Fall. Thing is, Tacko’s not personally at fault for any of this because he hardly played against Perth and he didn’t play at all against Melbourne Utd. They’ve been without Jonah Bolden for a couple of weeks and Dane Pineau also missed this game through injury so to lose Fall left them with only Sam Mennenga to play that five role.
As a result, MU mixed it up between small ball minutes and Rob Loe minutes... and Loe was absolutely awesome on the way to 25 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists. He was helped plenty by his kiwi buds Shea Ili (10p/6a) and Flynn Cameron (5pts). Too easy for Melbs, who are building a bit of a winning streak these days. They’ve got five dubs on the trot.
The Breakers, on the other hand, have fallen from 7-3 to 7-6 and that fantastic start to the season is being undone. Sure, it’s tough when all the bigs are injured. But you know who wasn’t injured? Freddie Gillespie. Hate to beat on the same drum all the time but this was such a bonkers self-sabotaging decision. Tacko Fall’s been injured almost the entire time he’s been associated with the club so they can’t be surprised he’s hurt now. They gave him a two-year contract too. It beggars belief.
Something to ponder...
The Football Ferns don’t have a coach right now, having parted ways with Jitka Klimkova amidst a bit of controversy earlier in the year. Michael Mayne was in charge as the interim during the Olympics and they haven’t played since.
During those Olympics, there was a drone spying scandal whereby the Football Ferns caught the Canadian team filming their training sessions (thanks to self-proclaimed Drone Enthusiast Rebekah Stott). This led to coach Bev Priestman being sacked and opened up a whole can of worms about how deep this drone stuff went in the Canadian system (ironically, it seems it may have originated with ex-Ferns coach John Herdman).
NZ Football are understood to be aiming for a new coaching appointment in early 2025.
A few weeks ago, another ex-Ferns coach, Tom Sermanni (currently working as interim boss of Australia) had this to say about Priestman, effectively endorsing her for the vacant NZ job...
“She’s been in New Zealand, she knows the landscape, the people, the culture, the players and she’s been involved in the Canada system, which is admittedly a bigger scale. She ticks all of those boxes... Bev is a very good person and she’s an excellent coach. She runs good programmes. She’s been dedicated to the women’s game, I’d be very disappointed if the drone thing doesn’t go away and she [doesn’t] get herself back in the game.”
Earlier this week, the Wellington Phoenix announced that former NZ international Emma Humphries would be taking over as head of the club’s academy – following Lee Padmore’s resignation. Humphries recently worked as the U17 Women’s coach for Canada and was previously the head of women’s football at the Vancouver Whitecaps. Humphries is also married to... Bev Priestman.
Now, Priestman is suspended for 12 months which presumably dates back to the Olympics. There’s also a lot of vetting that would need to take place (the kind of thing that you worry about with NZF) because while Sermanni is out there vouching for Priestman, there have been smearing reports in Canada about her time as coach. Those reports range from workplace dysfunction to toxic staff behaviour to the allegation that Humphries only got the U17 gig due to Priestman’s influence.
BP’s lawyer responded to that hit piece saying it was all scapegoating and there’s probably some truth to that given how it was based largely on confidential interviews with Canada football staff who kinda had their own hides/jobs to protect. Priestman’s allowed to grow and become better too. Plus it’s pretty clear that Canada Soccer has been quite toxic in its own right, given the unusual amount of dramas that have stemmed from them in recent years. But there are also other coaches out there so NZF don’t have to go after the biggest available name without pausing to consider why that name is available. Something to ponder, as I say.
With the National League all wrapped up for 2024, I’m now hard at work compiling my Teams of the Season. Part of that process is finding a happy balance between players who did heaps in fewer games versus season-long consistency. Same deal with figuring out positions and how to sneak in deserving first eleven players when someone else was even better in their spot. And of course there’s always the prospect vs product factor too – always nice when I can sneak in a few future pros just to say “see, I told ya” when the time comes around.
But that’s not always so easy to justify so here’s a couple of elevens full of up-and-comers. All players are under-20 but I’ve tried to aim even younger where I could. These sides aren’t picked on performance as much as they are on potential. These are names that we’ll hopefully hear heaps more of down the line. I’ve tried not to pick too many WeeNix players and I’ve also mostly stuck to those for whom this was their first major National League season – since we already know about the likes of Zoe Benson, Charlotte Mortlock, Sophie Campbell, Oscar Mason, or Alex Ballard.
WNL Youngster Eleven
GK – Amber Bennett (Canterbury United Pride)
RB – Megan Simpson (Canterbury United Pride)
CB – Daphne Ranta (Waterside Karori)
CB – Charli Dunn (Western Springs)
LB – Hannah Saxon (Eastern Suburbs)
CM – Mackenzie Longmuir (West Coast Rangers)
CM – Alyssha Eglinton (Wellington Phoenix Reserves)
CM – Pia Vlok (Auckland United)
FW – Shion Hwang (Eastern Suburbs)
FW – Emily Lyon (West Coast Rangers)
FW – Isla Cleall-Harding (Wellington Phoenix Reserves)
And on the bench we’ve got: Brooke Neary (Wellington Phoenix Reserves), Zara Erol-Watt (Central), Ava Lewis (Western Springs), Penny Brill (Auckland United), Amber de Wit (Canterbury United Pride), Indigo Kirk (Western Springs), Lily Brazendale (Wellington Phoenix Reserves)
MNL Youngster Eleven
GK – Vadym Patkevych (Eastern Suburbs)
RB – Riley Grover (Coastal Spirit)
CB – Dylan Gardiner (Wellington Phoenix Reserves)
CB – Riley Dalziell (Eastern Suburbs)
LB – Lewis Partridge (Wellington Phoenix Reserves)
CM – Bruce Izumi (Western Suburbs)
CM – Finn Caughey (Cashmere Technical)
CM – Ralph Rutherford (Eastern Suburbs)
FW – Stipe Ukich (Auckland City)
FW – Luke Flowerdew (Wellington Phoenix Reserves)
FW – Isa Prins (Wellington Olympic)
Bench: Nathan Garrow (Auckland City), James Mitchell (Eastern Suburbs), Jamie Wildash-Chan (Western Suburbs), Anaru Cassidy (Wellington Phoenix Reserves), Dejuan Naidoo (Eastern Suburbs), Sam Lack (Napier City Rovers), Troy Putt (Birkenhead United)
Also, they did the draw for the rebranded FIFA Club World Cup and have a peek at the state of this...
The CWC will take place in June-July 2025 in the United States of America (where unlike some of the places that FIFA usually like to hold these things, they should at least get good crowds involved). This is tournament is going to be held every four years and will take the 32-team format that the World Cup used to until FIFA got greedy with it. So, groups of four leading to a sixteen-team knockout bracket.
It’s weird for Oceania because only one team gets in despite there being four OCLs in that timeframe... but Auckland City have won the last three in a row so this time at least it’s a moot point. Also, FIFA have absolutely goosed it so that Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami qualified – letting them in for winning the 2024 MLS Supporters' Shield despite the fact that they went on to get bounced in the first round of the playoffs.
Auckland City will be facing Bayern Munich, Boca Juniors, and Benfica. That’s going to be something. The tournament itself is mostly a FIFA gimmick adding fixtures to an already overcrowded match calendar for the top players... but it is going to bring in a tremendous amount of money for NZ Football, and with the Men’s World Cup cash that should be on the influx in 2026 we might be able to afford some higher quality National League streams next year.
Musical Jam...