Grappling Wizards
Grappling Wizards
UFC 281 reaction, Charlisse Leger-Walker gold, Wellington Phoenix at the break, Plunket Shield & Men's National League Team of the Week
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Reading Menu
2022 Men’s National League - Week 7 Review (Football)
2022/23 Kiwi-NRL Train and Trial Breakdown (Rugby League)
Learning About Kiwi-NRL Juniors Keano Kini and Karl Oloapu (Rugby League)
2022 Rugby League World Cup: Aotearoa Kiwi Ferns vs England Semi-Final Preview (Rugby League)
Kiwi Steve in the NBA #1: Screeners (Basketball)
2022 Plunket Shield: Five Funky Things (Cricket)
Scotty’s Word
Pain > awareness > mindfulness > gratitude.
Aotearoa is the best sporting nation in the world. However you want to slice the heavy dose of Aotearoa sport over the past few weeks, take a moment to bask in gratitude for Aotearoa's sporting excellence.
In the world of cricket, Blackcaps are viewed as being unable to get over the hump and a source of pain for kiwis. Aotearoa shouldn't even be in those spots when compared to the powerful cricketing nations. Nations with similar resources to Aotearoa barely feature during the knockout stages of major tournaments.
Aotearoa Kiwis were in turmoil for the last RLWC and this tournament saw them showcase Aotearoa's growth in rugby league excellence. Aotearoa is in a footy cycle where the blokes and wahine league/union teams have at least made semi-finals of their World Cups. All Blacks, Black Ferns, Kiwis and Kiwi Ferns are consistently among the best in the world.
White Ferns bounced back from their World Cup in Aotearoa for a Commonwealth Games bronze medal and are constantly on the fringe of top-fours in major tournaments. Ponder other sports you love and there is probably an elite kiwi among the best in the world.
Aotearoa has a long history of combat sports excellence that City Kickboxing draws upon to compete with the best fighters in the world. While CKB had two wins and two losses at UFC 281, we can swing back around to gratitude.
Carlos Ulberg started UFC 281 with a crisp KO and he now has three wins in a row. Ulberg is the only CKB fighter without a loss in UFC this year.
Brad Riddell on the other hand has two losses this year and three consecutive losses - all three were finishes. Riddell started his UFC career with four wins by decision. He racked up the wins but the fact that he couldn't get any finishes was interesting. Those wins took Riddell up the rankings where Riddell has struggled to keep up.
Dan Hooker has endured all the win/loss waves that a lengthy UFC career produces. Hooker went 1-4 during the pandemic and his win over Claudio Puelles featured Hooker's excellent striking. Puelles has limited striking but is a strong grappler who kept hunting Hooker's legs to try and work a submission. Hooker rolled with those attacks and picked Puelles apart with striking.
Hooker may not fight for the lightweight championship again, but he is embedded as a big donnie in the lightweight division; Hooker can pick up a fight against blokes ranked ahead of him as well as dealing with the up and comers. Hooker isn't winning World Cups, but he's there in the semi-finals for every tournament.
Israel Adesanya was defeated by Alex Pereira. This was Adesanya's first loss as a UFC middleweight but his third loss to Pereira including their kickboxing duels, with Pereira finishing Adesanya late in the final round. Adesanya was winning the fight on points and he combined his typical striking with splashes of grappling, even taking Pereira down.
Pereira is bigger than Adesanya and genuinely looked scary when lining up against Adesanya. This limited what Adesanya could do with his takedown attempts - Adesanya isn't a grappling wizard but it's also tricky to grab a bigger bloke and wrestle him to the ground.
When watching UFC fights, pay attention to the black lines that form a smaller octagon around the middle. When both fighters are inside the black lines it's all good. Adesanya has been effective with his defensive grappling because he is able to work backwards, towards the edge of the ring where he can use the cage to his advantage. Defending takedown in the middle of the ring is very difficult.
Defending against strikers is easier in the middle of the octagon, especially for someone with the body control of Adesanya. Adesanya can move in all directions with footwork as well as leaning to avoid shots while still being in a position to counter - best example is the first Robert Whittaker fight.
Against Pereira, Adesanya was behind the black lines and up against the cage. This amplified the scary vibe as Pereira loomed over Adesanya. With his back near the cage, fewer exit routes were available for Adesanya. This happened throughout the fight and it never felt good, even with Adesanya landing strikes from this spot. Pereira finished the fight by landing with elite power as Adesanya moved sideways along the cage.
Adesanya dropped Pereira in the final seconds of the first round and 10 more seconds could have seen Adesanya finish his opponent. Adesanya also opted for less grappling in the final round and as Pereira was losing on the scorecards, he needed to finish Adesanya to grab a win. Adesanya put himself in front of Pereira consistently and got touched too much.
CKB has encountered wobbles in the UFC. Riddell has lost three in a row and doesn't look as slick as he did a couple years ago. Blood Diamond lost his first two UFC fights. Shane Young lost his last two fights and hasn't fought since March 21. Adesanya has now tasted his first loss as a middleweight.
Then again, a gym tucked away in central Auckland has three elite UFC fighters in Adesanya, Hooker and Kai Kara-France. Ulberg is emerging as a light heavyweight but he will need to showcase his grappling soon - this is the basic challenge facing all CKB fighters.
When dealing in a marquee UFC event against the best fighters in the world, anything can happen. This is like semi-finals or finals against powerful nations. Sometimes Papatuanuku and Ranginui are working in the kiwis favour, sometimes they aren't. Regardless of the results, we can enjoy the gratitude of Aotearoa's excellence.
Plunket Shield round four has started and Dutch international Tim Pringle makes his debut for Northern Districts. Pringle is from Tauranga and has four ODIs (1w @ 221avg/6.66rpo) for Netherlands as well as 13 T20Is (7w @ 34.28avg/5.85rpo), including the recent T20 World Cup. Pringle took 3w @ 34avg/6rpo in six games for Netherlands and the tall lefty was selected for Northern alongside lefty-spinner Fred Walker.
This is the second game in a row that Northern have selected two spinners (Joe and Fred Walker last round). Auckland deployed Will Somerville and Adithya Ashok for one game, although Somerville is getting similar mahi as Central’s Ajaz Patel. Rachin Ravindra has bowled the most spin overs for Wellington and he’s now joined by leggy Peter Younghusband.
As noted in this Plunket Shield yarn, spin is a factor in Aotearoa. Pringle has already tasted international cricket and he must now compete with Northern’s bowlers for game time, then settling into a groove. Conditions only get more spinny as the summer rolls along - especially for Northern and Auckland.
Tough times for Sophie Devine in WBBL08. Perth are fourth, chasing a top-four spot for finals and they are on 13 points with Hobart (third) and Adelaide (fifth). Devine has impacted games with her captaincy and flashes of tight bowling, but she is yet to fire this season…
2015/16: 224 runs @ 18.66avg | 8w @ 30.37avg
2016/17: 270 runs @ 37.57avg | 2w @ 45avg
2017/18: 355 runs @ 25.35avg | 17w @ 17.52avg
2018/19: 556 runs @ 46.33avg | 14w @ 21.71avg
2019/20: 769 runs @ 76.9avg | 19w @ 20.68avg
2020/21: 460 runs @ 51.11avg | 6w @ 28.33avg
2020/22: 442 runs @ 34avg | 10w @ 19.6avg
2022/23: 131 runs @ 13.1avg | 6w @ 34.33avg
Wildcard’s Notebook
Just in case you’re wondering, yes Charlisse Leger-Walker is still doing mad things for Washington State Uni...
The 21yo came into her third college season the same as her second: being talked up as one of the very best players in her conference. You’ve gotta do the full four years before you’re eligible for the WNBA Draft so there’ll be another one after this. Expect CLW to go bonkers from here on out, that’s usually the pattern. Year one you’re fresh on the scene and nobody’s ready for it. Year two the opponents have a full scouting report prepared and can adjust. Year three it’s your turn to adjust to the adjustments. And by year four you’ve experienced it all and cannot be stopped.
WSU have played three games so far and have won them all. The first was a blowout in which CLW didn’t have to do anything excessive (just a tidy 16pts/7reb/6ast in 27 mins) and the third was also a hefty victory, although Leger-Walker did scored a very efficient 24 points (8/12 FG, with 6 assists as well). But game two was the one in which she really shone.
In a low-scoring battle against San Francisco, WSU were trailing 38-23 at half-time. They ended up winning 69-63 with Leger-Walker scoring more than half her team’s points. In 40 minutes of work she logged a career-best 35 points (with 4 assists and 3 steals). 11 of those points came in the fourth quarter where she shot 4/5 from the field and was a hundy percent on four late free throws to ice the game. This was the kind of brilliant solo effort, dragging her team to victory, that is extremely rare for kiwi basketballers playing overseas – let alone in arguably the strongest college conference in America.
Charlisse is special.
This stat was from before the Welly Nix absolutely coughed up what looked like a sitter three points at home against Western United, leading them into the World Cup break with a bad taste in the mouth...
Exceeding your xG doesn’t necessarily mean you’re due to swing back in the other direction. It might just mean you’re actually really good at finishing. It’s hard to be really good for an extended period of time though and missed chances were the problem in that game long before the sloppy defence had their turn.
Kosta Barbarouses’s failure from the penalty spot was the worst of them, obviously. But there was more where that came from. For the Nix to be the team they’re capable of, they need to be ruthless. Put teams to the sword – especially at home. Have them dead and buried by half-time if possible. Here they wasted a great first half and a brilliant opportunity for points by easing off against a sleeping beast and quickly finding out why that was a bad idea.
It’s frustrating because a win in that game and they’d have been sitting fourth on the ladder as the A-League takes a month off (to accommodate FIFA corruption in awarding the World Cup to a nation unfit to host it). Instead they’re back in eighth with only one win from six games. Still right there in range but as it stands only Western United have conceded more goals (12 – two per match... WU are at 16).
The stoppage time concession in the week one draw against Adelaide also stands out. That’s twice this team has been copped by stoppage time goals at home already. Although to be fair that does go to show that this team isn’t far away. As Oli Sail said after the last game, a bit better in both boxes and she’ll be right. Set piece concessions seem to be a big problem at the moment... but at least they’ve got time to work on it now.
The other thing that’s potentially been holding them back is Ufuk Talay still trying to figure out his best eleven. We saw an unchanged team leading into this game for the first time but given how it ended that may not be the case when the team returns in December. Talay’s general tendency is to stick with the guys when they’re winning and swap things up when they’re losing. Combine a bunch of new signings still being embedded and after six games there have been 17 different starters. Only Oli Sail and Scott Wootton have started all six matches.
Steven Adams is saying things again...
Men’s National League – Team of the Week #7
GK – Oscar Mason (Napier City Rovers) – In a valiant 1-1 draw at home to Birkenhead, Mason made three or four genuinely fantastic saves and the only goal that beat him was a penalty. One of several keepers trying to stake a claim for the U20 World Cup next year and he’s doing a pretty fine job of it so far.
RB – Fetuao Belcher (Napier City Rovers) – 19yo defender Belcher has started most games for NCR. He was also a member of Samoa’s U19 Oceania Championships squad. Belcher was in the back three against Birko and delivered his most complete performance by far. He’s a big lad with plenty of athletic gifts but it was the timing of his tackles that stood out most.
CB – Aaron Scott (Melville United) – Had to have one of the Melville defenders in here and Scotty missed out last week so it was his turn. Honestly, it’s hard to split them when they all play so cohesively and so powerfully. Scott’s leadership has been a thrill all season. Mana personified.
CB – Dino Botica (Birkenhead United) – It takes quite a character to go head to head with Leaford Allen but Botica was up to the task. Didn’t shirk the physical stuff and regularly put his body on the line. He’s really emerging as one of the best defenders in the country this season.
LB – Lucas Mauragis (Wellington Phoenix) – The duel between Mauragis and Jesse Randall was box office stuff. Especially in the second half, when Mauragis emerged all fired up and it was his energy that helped spark that WeeNix comeback against the league leaders. The Aussie pro’s getting plenty of reserves minutes... and he’s going hundies to make the most of them.
CM – Michael Den Heijer (Auckland United) – MDH was already on patrol in the midfield before Coughlan went off injured but after Cashmere Tech lost their biggest threat Den Heijer’s powerful defensive work became decisive. This was a masterclass in positioning, anticipation, and decision-making. Copious tackles. Copious interceptions. And he chipped in a bit going forwards too.
CM – Cameron Howieson (Auckland City) – Yet again, City won. Yet again, Howieson was their best performer. All the usual midfield exploits that occur in that team with the silky passing rhythms and whatnot... along with a goal and an assist. He’s been absolutely brilliant these past two weeks.
CM – Josh Galletly (Melville United) – Weirdly he’s here as much for his set piece deliveries as anything. But those set pieces were essential to Melville’s win over Miramar. That was how they anchored themselves on attack and he had so many chances to whip those suckers in. The rest of his game went alright too, in fairness, getting that ball forward in transition and even hitting the crossbar at one stage.
FW – Nicolas Zambrano (Auckland United) – Scored a couple of goals as his team came from a goal down to win 2-1. That’ll do it. Zambrano’s ability to get into good areas and then also finish his chances is quite useful. Not averse to dropping in and helping the build-up either. He’s having a quietly excellent season, this bloke.
FW – Eddie Wilkinson (Christchurch United) – He’s been Chch’s best attacker all season and with two assists he kept them in the game against Auckland City. One was a lovely corner kick delivery. The other a low cross after a fantastic drive into the area. You just can’t stop him once he gets moving. His strength and close control are so good.
FW – Oliver Colloty (Melville United) – Two more goals, one from the penalty spot and one from open play. He’s three outta three from penalties this season and has five goals in total – second equal across the league. Not bad for a teenager. The more he plays the more confident he looks, it was a huge shift from OC this week.