Grasshopper's Perspective
Grasshopper's Perspective
Warriors win again vs Sharks, Chris Wood at Nottm Forest, Matt Henry & Ish Sodhi are T20 Blast champs, domestic footy roundup & more
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Kiwi-NRL Spotlight: The Eventual Arrival Of Rocco Berry (Rugby League)
Aotearoa Warriors Diary: Hosting Sharks & Jets (Rugby League)
Football Ferns at the 2023 World Cup: Scouting The Group Stage Opponents (Football)
After All That... Darren Bazeley Is The New All Whites Head Coach (Football)
Football Ferns vs Vietnam: That Winning Feeling Rediscovered (Football)
Football Ferns at the 2023 FIFA World Cup: Squad Profiles (Football)
Aotearoa at the 2023 Oceania U19s Women’s Championships (Football)
The Quotable Steven Adams: 2022-23 Edition (Basketball)
Recapping Tall Ferns Exploits at the 2023 Asia Cup (Basketball)
White Ferns Stumble In ODI Series Loss vs Sri Lanka (Cricket)
Winter Notes & Nuggs For Each Domestic Cricket Team (Cricket)
Scotty’s Word
Following an All Blacks vs South Africa Test is tricky, but NZ Warriors gave it a nudge. We rarely get this experience of All Blacks and NZ Warriors playing at the same stadium on back to back nights (shout out the three concrete jungles of Auckland) with both teams entertaining. Through the telly, it did look like the Warriors game day experience was superior and I've currently got Warriors ahead of Breakers for the atmosphere they provide.
All Blacks are fabulous etc etc but it's all a bit stale compared to Warriors. Musical choices and how they are mixed into the sporting action is in favour of Warriors. Vibrant fans, fire sprouts and diversity of fans also fall in favour of Warriors. Thankfully Warriors don't do haka because that pesky Sky Sport angle of filming haka from a grasshopper’s perspective continues to frustrate.
Warriors went about their usual mahi against Sharks, who have conceded more points to Warriors than Cowboy and Bulldogs.
NZ Warriors vs Sharks (76-42)
Round 5: 32-30
Round 20: 44-12
NZ Warriors vs Bulldogs (40-26)
Round 4: 16-14
Round 11: 24-12
NZ Warriors vs Cowboys (48-26)
Round 3: 26-12
Round 7: 22-14
I wrote about Rocco Berry last week and he had his best NRL performance so far. Sharks lost edge forward Teig Wilton early and an already iffy defensive edge for Sharks was weakened. The right edge for Sharks features far better defenders in Briton Nikora, Nicho Hynes and Jesse Ramien which dictated how Warriors scored their points.
Warriors directed most of their attacking shape towards the right, targeting the zone around Matt Moylan and forcing Siosifa Talakai to make tricky decisions. This saw Addin Fonua-Blake, Josh Curran and Rocco Berry score tries in different channels as well as putting Dallin Watene-Zelezniak in space out wide.
Warriors have proven their ability to attack every zone. When Warriors have a different match up, the hard running Jackson Ford and slick passing of Adam Pompey will shine too.
Matariki alignment also saw Warriors roll out a bunch of Aussies, especially when Tohu Harris and Shaun Johnson were on the sideline. Wayde Egan slotted in as a half to cover Johnson, after Freddie Lussick spent a few minutes as a middle forward before shifting to hooker. At one point Warriors had Egan, Lussick, Ford, Dylan Walker (Pitcairn/Maori), Luke Metcalf, Mitchell Barnett, Addin Fonua-Blake, Josh Curran and Marcelo Montoya on the field together.
That's a fabulous crop of Aussie players who are all in career-best pockets like the lads from Aotearoa. The consistent mahi of Egan, Walker, Barnett and Fonua-Blake is exceptional. I've whipped up two Egan passing mixtapes and he is averaging 53m/game - his first season averaging 50+ running metres since debuting in 2018.
The Walker, Barnett, Fonua-Blake bracket is all about minutes. Walker averages 59mins/game, Barnett averages 60mins and Fonua-Blake averages 57mins.
Fonua-Blake also averages 167m/game, 28 tackles/1 missed tackle, 3 tackle busts and an offload. Barnett and Walker have played 40+ minutes in all of their games. This is helped by their versatility as Walker's minutes are boosted by full games as a half and Barnett covers edge forward to keep him on the field. Meanwhile, Harris averages 67mins and he played less than 40mins for the first time this season vs Sharks.
NZ Warriors stat profile
Tries: 8th
Penalties Conceded: 9th
Missed Tackles: 14th
Offloads: 16th
Dummy Half Runs: 14th
Set Completion: 5th
Kick Return Metres: 4th
Kicking Metres: 7th
Linebreaks: 4th
Post Contact Metres: 10th
Run Metres: 9th
Tackle Breaks: 9th
NZ Warriors had a loss in NSW Cup against Newtown Jets as they continue to roll out a young group. Patrick Moimoi (De La Salle College) is the latest U19 SG Ball player to be promoted to NSW Cup. Moimoi joined fellow SG Ball lads Tanner Stowers-Smith, Jacob Laban, Selumiela (Leka) Halasima and Eddie Ieremia in the team that lost to Jets. Presley Seumanu was also named as NSW Cup 18th man as another SG Ball player.
Warriors are 4th and Jets are 3rd. While entrenched in the finals mixer for NSW Cup, Warriors may continue to give younger players experience at the reserve grade level before leaning on veterans to win crucial games. I'm not fussed about results because it's hard to win NSW Cup games with this many U19 players and Warriors have lads like James Gavet, Paterika Vaivai, plus many more to call upon for must-win outings.
Demitric Sifakula and Ali Leiataua were also winning NSW Cup players who commanded NRL game time because of their performances. Sifakula, Leiataua, Moala Graham-Taufa, Sanele Aukusitino, Zyon Maiu'u and Isaiah Vagana are all young players who are in their first major stint of reserve grade as well.
Along with all those players from Christchurch who I noted had signed with Warriors in Friday's dispatch and Aussie Tom Summers, that announcement included an upgraded contract for Moimoi. Moimoi was upgraded to a development contract and then popped up for Mt Albert in Fox Premiership where most of the SG Ball squad are now playing before stepping up to NSW Cup.
There isn't much rugby league information about Moimoi apart from him playing for the Future Warriors in last year's homecoming game vs Tigers. Moimoi was starting centre alongside Leiataua and they have since played NSW Cup along with Laban and Halasima. Moimoi played 1st 15 for De La Salle College and made an Auckland U18 squad then an Auckland U19 squad via Manukau Rovers.
Matt Henry and Ish Sodhi are T20 Blast champions in England with Somerset. In the final against Essex, Somerset scored 145 from their 20 overs with the kiwis chipping in for minimal runs down the order. Henry did whack 44 runs @ 133sr through the competition though, while Sodhi batted just once.
Henry (4w @ 6.8rpo) and Sodhi (3w @ 5.5rpo) then accounted for most of the wickets as Somerset dismissed Essex for 131 in 18.3ov. Henry finishes T20 Blast as the leading wicket-taker with 31w @ 13.25avg/7.8rpo, also taking 3w @ 4.9rpo in the semi-final. Sodhi snared 8w @ 17.37avg/6.9rpo throughout the campaign.
This is Henry's best year of T20I bowling with 6w @ 20.16avg/7.5rpo in 16ov. Henry had only played T20I cricket between 2014-17 prior to this year and bowled less than 10ov in each of those four years. Henry has always been a fabulous ODI bowler (25.59avg) and this is also his busiest year of Test bowling with 19w @ 29.2avg/2.8rpo in 196ov. Henry averages below 27 in all three formats beneath international cricket.
Sodhi has a T20I record of 22.88avg/7.9rpo and is in a fascinating spot ahead of the ODI World Cup. Sodhi was excellent in the first tour of Pakistan over the summer, playing a crucial role in the drawn Test series, followed by ODIs in which Blackcaps won the two games that Sodhi played (3w @ 29.3avg/4.8rpo).
After five years of averaging low-30s in ODI bowling, Sodhi is on 7w @ 61avg/5.6rpo which is hindered by the more recent tour of Pakistan in which Blackcaps returned to Pakistan with a 2nd 11 group.
Sodhi will be hunting World Cup game time in India. Henry is making a strong case for his 1st 11 selection regardless of conditions and when playing in a full-strength Blackcaps team, Sodhi has performed well. Michael Bracewell's injury is a factor as well, increasing the chances of the Sodhi/Santner spin combo.
Lydia Ko is still chillin' after a big 2022 and it's all good
T6, T31, T34, Cut, T42, T33, Cut, T57, T33, T65
Musical jam…
Wildcard’s Notebook
There have been a couple of funky yarns eluding to Chris Wood’s Nottingham Forest situation lately. Wood’s initial loan move became a permanent deal at the start of the transfer window after he hit the automatic trigger with a mere three appearances in matchday squads. The fee was around £15m (sources vary, probably due to add-ons) – the third time in his career he’s moved for at least that figure, the three biggest fees ever paid for an NZer.
Clearly that initial loan thing was just a gimmick. Effectively, it was a way to push the transfer fee into a different financial year having already made a heap of signings (they made 30 in total over the season, including loans and frees). Financial fair play stuff. There was an interview with former NFFC sporting director Filippo Giraldi, who was sacked a few months after the January window, on The Athletic recently in which he spoke about the reasoning behind the deal...
“I know there’s been some criticism about that [the Chris Wood transfer] but, for the cost, it was the best choice possible at that moment because we have a financial fair play limit. We cannot go and buy a striker for £40-50million. Taiwo Awoniyi’s injury meant we had to react. I know people wanted the best in the world, but in a relegation battle you have to go for what is available and what was very important for us was players used to these types of games.”
Similar reasons to why Newcastle signed him the year before, come to think of it. But he may now find himself in the same awkward spot the year afterwards. He’s out injured at the moment and didn’t feature in the team’s first preseason game. Only got one goal in seven appearances last season although they did take a solid five points from his five starts (then only gathered one point from the five games immediately after he was injured). But Taiwo Awoniyi returned late last term with a bunch of goals so Woodsy’s looking at backup duties again.
It’s been claimed he’s ahead of schedule in his injury return and will be on the preseason training camp tour to Spain, though The Athletic seem to think that he’ll more likely be moved on than be part of their Premier League squad. Possibly on loan due to his wages. Then again, they’ve already trimmed some of their bloated squad due with forwards Andre Ayew and Jesse Lingard released while fellow striker Sam Surridge is apparently joining Nashville SC in the MLS. Emannuel Dennis seems likely to follow, possibly to Leeds. They’ll probably bring a few new ones in as well but they can’t get rid of everybody and Woodsy’s a top character who won’t make a fuss. We’ll see how it goes.
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It’ll be one to keep an eye on, how Chris Wood tracks during preseason. Meanwhile plenty of other lads are cracking into the preseason games. Ben Waine scored in a youth-oriented game against a local opponent then got the last half hour off the bench in a much stronger squad against Blackpool. Those are promising areas. Argyle’s promotion probably means he’s shooting for bench appearances to begin with, though he’s got that advantage of the long run-up having already had six months with the squad in which to settle.
Liberato Cacace scored one and set up another Empoli, while an additional cross of his was spilled by the keeper for a tap-in goal so count that as a second assist if you want. It was in a 10-0 win against a lower league team but the important thing was seeing him getting in those areas... whilst wearing the 13 jersey. He wore 21 when he first joined the club then switched to 3 last term. Now he’s seemingly swapped to the 13 he wore for the Wellington Phoenix and still wears for the All Whites. Lucky number. That Fabiano Parisi transfer to Fiorentina has been confirmed now so Cacace’s looking at starting LB minutes... right on.
A 10-0 win was nothing fancy though. Matt Garbett’s NAC Breda won 17-0 in their first friendly with Garbett scoring once in the first half that he played alongside the starters prior to a bunch of subs. Ryan Thomas has been quiet in PEC Zwolle’s early outings though. Played half a game as a starter against Westerloo but didn’t play in a 120-minute match against Sparta Rotterdam three days later. It was announced ahead of time that he’d miss the game though it wasn’t fully clear if there was an injury niggle or if it was just rest on a short turnaround. They’ll play it safe with him in these early days.
Marko Stamenic has been on the bus for Red Star Belgrade for a couple weeks now, starting all of his team’s games as they won the Pari Premier Cup in Russia (a friendly tournament hosted by Zenit). Mostly playing as an eight with a licence to drift into the penalty area on attack though he did get some reps as a defensive midfielder at the end of the tour. Basically, it looks like he’s going to be a first-choice starter for a Champions League club this season. Incredible.
Also funnily enough Callum McCowatt’s preseason mahi for Silkeborg included getting the second half of a match against his old club Helsingor. Maybe they wrote it into the transfer agreement lol. Down a division Dalton Wilkins scored for Kolding in a preseason game over the weekend. Those are important steps for each because with the long winter break over there, the season starts a lot sooner than other leagues. How soon? Try next week.
Tell ya what, we could have a pair of Flying Kiwis derbies on our hands too. It’s Kolding (Wilkins) vs Horsens (Eli Just) in the first division round one while up in the top flight we’ve got Silkeborg (McCowatt) vs Brøndby (Joe Bell). The latter just took on Crystal Palace in their last preseason game. Drew 2-2 with a full-strength team, in which Bell was on the bench but did get the last dozen or so mins as they only used five substitutes overall. Not gonna be a first eleven player to start the season but opportunities will arise. A full preseason with the new coach will be very helpful.
NBL 2023 Regular Season NZ Leaders (per game/min 5 games)
Points
Rob Loe (Auckland Tuatara) – 20.8
Tai Webster (Otago Nuggets) – 19.4
Tai Wynyard (Canterbury Rams) – 19.1
Callum McRae (Nelson Giants) – 18.7
Reuben Te Rangi (Auckland Tuatara) – 18.4
Dan Fotu (Franklin Bulls) – 17.9
Jordan Ngatai (Hawke’s Bay Hawks) – 16.6
Tom Vodanovich (Wellington Saints) – 16.0
Derone Raukawa (Hawke’s Bay Hawks) – 15.9
Izayah Mauriohooho-Le’Afa (Wellington Saints) – 15.3
Assists
Tai Webster (Otago Nuggets) – 5.4
Taylor Britt (Canterbury Rams) – 4.3
Rob Loe (Auckland Tuatara) – 4.1
Alex McNaught (Nelson Giants) – 4.1
Hyrum Harris (Hawke’s Bay Hawks) – 3.9
Rebounds
Rob Loe (Auckland Tuatara) – 11.5
Tai Wynyard (Canterbury Rams) – 10.7
Tyrell Harrison (Franklin Bulls) – 9.6
Callum McRae (Nelson Giants) – 9.4
Sam Timmins (Otago Nuggets) – 9.3
Steals
Carlin Davison (Taranaki Airs) – 2.3
Izayah Mauriohooho-Le’Afa (Wellington Saints) – 2.0
Rob Loe (Auckland Tuatara) – 1.9
Sam Dempster (Nelson Giants) – 1.7
Hyrum Harris (Hawke’s Bay Hawks) – 1.6
Blocks
Rob Loe (Auckland Tuatara) – 2.1
Tyrell Harrison (Franklin Bulls) – 2.0
Sam Timmins (Otago Nuggets) – 1.3
Josh Leger (Manawatu Jets) – 1.1
Tai Wynyard (Canterbury Rams) – 1.1
Three-Point Percentage (min 2 attempts/game)
Lachlan Crate (Manawatu Jets) - 50%
Rangimarie Dougall-Mita (Wellington Saints) – 47.7%
Kruz Perrott-Hunt (Auckland Tuatara) – 47.1%
Derone Raukawa (Hawke’s Bay Hawks) – 45.3%
Izayah Mauriohooho-Le’Afa (Wellington Saints) – 44.8%
Domestic Football Roundup...
Gonna start with the Women’s NRFL Prem today because doings are afoot. First off, shock defeat for leaders Eastern Suburbs. They were 3-0 up in the first half against Hibiscus Coast and somehow ended up losing 4-3. Peta van Hattum with a double in there for HC, while Juliette Lucas had earlier scored twice for the Lilywhites to go clear top of the Golden Boot ranks with 10 goals overall.
That’s a huge result as it allowed Auckland United to overtake Suburbs for the league lead courtesy of their own 3-0 win over Ellerslie. Bree Johnson scored twice and Talisha Green got the other. U19s reps Suya Haering and Danielle Canham both returned off the bench for Utd. Not only are Auckland United now two points clear in first but they also have a game in hand on Suburbs and, on top of that, they can’t finish any lower than fourth which means they’ve secured National League qualification… the first club team confirmed for either Natty League in 2023.
Eastern Suburbs should join them there very soon, while Western Springs are rolling on after a 2-1 win away to West Coast Rangers. But the fourth National League spot is anyone’s guess with Hamilton Wanderers’ last minute 2-1 win over Northern Rovers (denying Rovers their first point of the season) meaning that Ellerslie are on 17 points, WCR and HW are on 16 points, and even Hibiscus Coast on 13 points can’t be counted out just yet. Hamilton have a game in hand on the others but that’s no guarantee when you’re in the mid-table murkiness. Should be a funky final few weeks.
The Men’s Northern League supplied plenty of relegation intrigue this week as both Bay Olympic and Manukau United claimed victories. Must’ve been a bummer for each to check the results and realise that the other had matched their efforts, though not nearly as bad as the feelings Takapuna will have suffered after a 1-0 loss to Hamilton Wanderers (Luke Mitchell scored in the first minute and that was the only goal). Bay Olympic did it 4-2 against West Coast Rangers on the back of a double from Sean Leadley, while Manukau held fort with 2-1 scoreline against Melville (Erik Panzer got a late red card for the latter – not his first this season either lol). Felix van Hattum did score on debut for WCR, he’s the younger brother of Oskar van Hattum of the Wellington Phoenix. In fact Peta van Hattum may also be a sibling but don’t quote me on that.
As it stands, Bay Olympic have 10 points and a -17 goal difference. Manukau United are on 9 points (-28 GD). Takapuna are last on 6 points (-21 GD). Bottom two get relegated. West Coast Rangers on 16 points probably aren’t feeling entirely comfortable either.
Elsewhere the Dominion Road Derby went the way of Auckland City as early goals from Ryan De Vries and Joe Lee were enough to withstand the second half comeback sparked by Oliver Middleton’s strike for Auckland United. That’s the 12th game in a row in which RDV has scored. He’s now level with Derek Tieku for Golden Boot, both on 15 goals, which is ridiculous considering how far ahead Tieku seemed to be a month or two ago.
Eastern Suburbs won 3-0 against Manurewa to keep pace with City at the top. All three goals came in the final twenty minutes. ACFC and ES are both on 41 points with seven games remaining, though City have the superior goal difference. Also, that loss for ‘Rewa sees them drop out of the top four for the first time this season. Western Springs have leapt ahead by a point following a 2-1 win away to fellow National League challengers Birkenhead United.
There is no stopping Wellington Olympic in the Central League. It was a top of the table clash against the Wellington Phoenix Reserves on Matariki Friday and after Hamish Watson had opened the scoring inside ten minutes it was the WeeNix who led 2-1 at the break thanks to goals from Dan McKay and Luke Supyk. Cool to see Supyk having a big impact – he was the top scorer for the NZ U17s in their qualifying run. Younger bro of ex-WeeNix fullback Adam. This is a particularly strong WeeNix team as they’ve got a bunch of players (many were at the U20 World Cup) who are nearing the end of their eligibility having already experienced a couple of senior seasons. Hence the title challenge... but they weren’t able to hold on. Jack-Henry Sinclair scored a banger to equalise with twenty to go then Ben Mata won it from the penalty spot in the last minute. 3-2 to Olympic who move four points clear in their quest for the three-peat. Five games remain apiece.
Tell you what, the top four is getting frisky here as well (it’ll be top four for National League since the WeeNix are going to finish in that realm – technically it’s three plus the WeeNix). This after Western Suburbs were beaten 1-0 by Petone, Matt Brazier with the winning goal of course. He’s up to 14 for the season - 84th minute penalty in this case. Wests played the last half hour with ten men after Malik Smith was marched for a second yellow.
Wests are still in third on 24 points but Napier City Rovers are only just behind them with 23 following a 3-1 win over Miramar Rangers. Held on despite Kaeden Atkins getting sent off with the game in the balance at 2-1. Huge result for Rovers, probably also one that ends any realistic hopes that Miramar had of getting back into the Nats. However Petone on 20 points and Waterside Karori on 18 points are still very much in the mix. WK won 4-1 over Stop Out despite conceding the opening goal.
And yet the result of the round was arguably the one from way down the bottom of the ladder: North Wellington 2-3 Whanganui Athletic. Charlie Meredith with the last-gasp winner for Whanga, who had lost all 12 games leading into this round but suddenly are only a point off North Wellington and a real chance of avoiding relegation if they can find another one where this came from. Even if they don’t, gotta imagine the beverages tasted sweet after breaking the losing streak.
Christchurch United have almost clinched the Southern League. A 6-0 victory against Selwyn United has them five points clear with a game in hand. It’ll be a few more rounds before it’s official but it’s hard to see them dropping the requisite points from this position... they could secure their Natty League spot as soon as next week. Only surprise about the Selwyn win was that Sam Philip only scored once.
The reason they’ve pulled further clear is that Cashmere Technical lost 3-2 against Coastal Spirit. Found themselves 3-0 down after half an hour and weren’t quite able to spark the comeback even though they’d already hauled it back to 3-2 by the break and Spirit had to play the second half with ten men.
Dunedin City Royals had been giving it a crack at challenging them for top two a lot of the way but they lost 4-1 to Ferrymead Bays this week. DCR have only taken two points from their last four games plus were knocked out of the Chatham Cup by lower tier Wanaka in that same span. Which means that Ferrymead Bays and Coastal Spirit have each now climbed above them, although the seven point gap to Cashmere is probably too much to manage.
In other Southern results, Nomads won 2-0 against FC Twenty11, while there was a wild one in Nelson as Suburbs were beaten 5-4 by Green Island. Stefan Milidrag scored a ten-minute hat-trick between minutes 70-80. They were 3-1 down, then suddenly they were 5-3 up (Trevin Myers also scored in that span), and it ended 5-4. Phew.