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More White Ferns woes, Tall Blacks OQTs, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck's tackling, a new Breakers coach, Football Ferns evolution, Flying Kiwis Transfer Tracker & introducing Lulu Sun
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Aotearoa Warriors Diary: Big Bulldogs Gameday (Rugby League)
Aotearoa Warriors Diary: Winning Mahi Breakdown (Rugby League)
Kiwi-NRL Spotlight: Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs Low Key Love Aotearoa (Rugby League)
Flying Kiwis – July 2 (Football)
Recapping The All Whites at the 2024 Oceania Nations Cup (Football)
Auckland FC Signing Tracker & Squad Profiles (Football)
How Have Those NZ Breakers Next Star Lads Been Tracking Since Their NBA Drafts? (Basketball)
The Breakers Are No Longer Coached By Mody Maor (Basketball)
White Ferns Tour Of England Preview (Cricket)
27fm Weekly Playlist: July 5 (Music)
Scotty’s Word
White Ferns lost their ODI series in England 0-3 and somehow keep hitting new lows. This requires another deep dive into White Ferns woes so stay tuned for that this weekend and some of the nitty gritty stuff I'm pondering is offered below. It's baffling that White Ferns can keep finding quirky new ways to fumble their operation and along with wave of underwhelming individual mahi, the Lauren Down situation is an escalation of a quirky fumble.
I've covered the Down situation at each juncture over the past month so you're probably aware at this stage. Down was selected in the ODI squad having not played any big donnie cricket for a year (something usually reserved for Sophie Devine, Amelia Kerr types) and despite that faith in her ability, White Ferns didn't view Down as good enough to play the first game or bat in the top-five in the next two games.
The preview laid out the dubious case for Down's selection. At that time I assumed Down would be a 1st 11 batter in the top order, so the concept of Down batting seven is pretty damn loopy. Keep in mind that Mikaela Greig got a contract and her selection for this squad was celebrated, but she didn't play in the three losses.
Craig McMillan was celebrated as a new assistant coach for White Ferns and he started with this series sweep. McMillan helped the White Ferns put up the following batting mahi...
Tahi: 156/10 @ 4.6rpo in 33.3 overs
Rua: 141/10 @ 3.3rpo in 41.5 overs
Toru: 211/8 @ 5rpo in 42 overs (rainy)
Two White Ferns had strike-rates over 90 vs England, three averaged 20+.
White Ferns stink so their bowling is just as bad. Eight bowlers were used - half didn't take any wickets, one conceded less than 5rpo. As noted in the series stats below, Amelia Kerr bowled 16ov with 1w @ 102avg/6.3rpo and Sophie Devine bowled 11.4ov @ 6rpo without a wicket.
'Spin guru' Craig Howard appears to have taken his talents to Sri Lanka cricket earlier this year after ... helping White Ferns spinners get worse?
Amelia Kerr averaged below 30 in her first four years of ODI bowling, now she is in her fourth consecutive year averaging over 35. Eden Carson and Fran Jonas didn't take a wicket in this series. Suzie Bates started bowling spin under spin guru Howard and after taking 3w @ 4.5 in 8ov earlier this year vs England, Bates didn't bowl in England.
Here are some ODI career stats for the best young wahine in Aotearoa who have cruised into consistent White Ferns roles...
Georgia Plimmer: 11.6avg/60sr (bat)
Izzy Gaze: 13avg/69.5sr (bat)
Fran Jonas: 45.5avg/4.6rpo (ball)
Molly Penfold: 59.8avg/5.1rpo (ball)
Eden Carson: 48.8avg/5.2rpo (ball)
ODI Series Stats vs England
Batting
Amelia Kerr: 110 runs @ 36avg/58sr
Brooke Halliday: 88 runs @ 29avg/65sr
Sophie Devine: 84 runs @ 28avg/92sr
Suzie Bates: 45 runs @ 15avg/75sr
Georgia Plimmer: 39 runs @ 13avg/69sr
Maddy Green: 37 runs @ 12avg/59sr
Jess Kerr: 24 runs @ 12avg/120sr
Izzy Gaze: 16 runs @ 5avg/59sr
Lauren Down: 14 runs @ 7avg/82sr
Bowling
Brooke Halliday: 3w @ 19avg/6.1rpo
Hannah Rowe: 2w @ 26avg/4.8rpo
Molly Penfold: 1w @ 92avg/5.7rpo
Amelia Kerr: 1w @ 102avg/6.3rpo
Sophie Devine: 11.4ov @ 6rpo
Jess Kerr: 10.3ov @ 5.7rpo
Fran Jonas: 6ov @ 8.1rpo
Eden Carson: 4ov @ 6.5rpo
White Ferns ODI losses summary since start of 2022...
ODI World Cup: West Indies, Australia, South Africa, England
In Sri Lanka ODI series: 1-2
In South Africa ODI series: 1-3
England home/away: 1-6
It's always tricky comparing men to women but as a guide for the stats below, across the same period there are seven Blackcaps batters averaging 40+ and 11 bowlers averaging below 30. White Ferns have one batter over 40avg below and three bowlers.
ODI Stats Since Start of 2022
Batting
Amelia Kerr: 1,396 runs @ 53.6avg/80sr
Suzie Bates: 1,113 runs @ 38.3avg/80sr
Sophie Devine: 1,054 runs @ 36.3avg/98sr
Maddy Green: 715 runs @ 34avg/70sr
Brooke Halliday: 382 runs @ 23.8avg/68sr
Lauren Down: 203 runs @ 29avg/82sr
Hannah Rowe: 190 runs @ 14.6avg/74sr
Jess Kerr: 151 runs @ 11.6avg/106sr
Georgia Plimmer: 151 runs @ 11.6avg/60sr
Izzy Gaze: 130 runs @ 13avg/69sr
Bowling
Jess Kerr: 33w @ 23.3avg/4.2rpo
Amelia Kerr: 31w @ 40.8avg/4.6rpo
Hannah Rowe: 29w @ 29.6avg/4.9rpo
Sophie Devine: 19w @ 30.8avg/4.9rpo
Fran Jonas: 16w @ 41.1avg/4.5rpo
Eden Carson: 6w @ 48.8avg/5.2rpo
Brooke Halliday: 5w @ 29.8avg/5.7rpo
Suzie Bates: 3w @ 36.3avg/5.4rpo
Molly Penfold: 3w @ 71.3avg/5.2rpo
Kiwi County Tour update...
Nathan Smith: 214 runs @ 30.5avg/54sr | 27w @ 21.1avg/3.1rpo
Will Young: 377 runs @ 41.8avg/45sr
As I typed through the NZ Warriors vs Bulldogs preview yesterday, I found some clarity about Roger Tuivasa-Sheck's mahi at centre. Then we talked through it in the Subscriber Pod and I found another wrinkle with Tuivasa-Sheck's increased tackling at centre.
Here are the basics...
Metres per game: 168m - third for NZW (Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, Addin Fonua-Blake)
Post contact metres per game: 62.2pcm - 14th in NRL/fourth for NZW (Fonua-Blake, Mitchell Barnett, Nicoll-Klokstad)
Runs per game: 16.9 - 35th in NRL
Tuivasa-Sheck is sixth for runs per game in NZW, but that includes Taine Tuaupiki (four games) and Moala Graham-Taufa (one game). Take them out and the only Warriors averaging more runs than Tuivasa-Sheck are Nicoll-Klokstad, Fonua-Blake, Tohu Harris.
Tuivasa-Sheck is one of the busiest and most efficient runners in NZW. Meanwhile, he is making twice as many tackles at centre than he did with fullback with a notable increase in efficiency…
Tackles per game for seasons with 70+ tackles
2013: 75 tackles - 3 per game
2015: 75 - 2.8 per game
2017: 79 - 3.4 per game
2019: 108 - 4.6 per game
2020: 4.3 per game
2024: 115 - 10.4 per game
Tackling efficiency for NZW
2016: 11 tackles @ 35.7%
2017: 79 tackles @ 66.9%
2018: 66 tackles @ 62.2%
2019: 108 tackles @ 72%
2020: 72 tackles @ 76.6%
2021: 58 tackles @ 69.8%
2024: 115 tackles @ 82.1%
What more do you want Tuivasa-Sheck to do?
Tuivasa-Sheck has gone from barely making five tackles per game up to 10, which along with tricky defensive reads at centre, requires plenty of energy. Despite any regular joker being zapped by more defence, Tuivasa-Sheck is still one of the most active runners at centre in the NRL.
NZW play Bulldogs in all three grades on Saturday so this Kiwi-NRL Spotlight on Bulldogs is timely. Here are the Kiwi-NRL lads named for Bulldogs this weekend with none in the NRL team and I've included Sydney's Ron Massey Cup because Bulldogs seem to use that more than other NRL teams...
Bulldogs
NSW Cup: Hayze Perham (Pikiao), Poasa Fa'amausili (Glenora)
Jersey Flegg: Callum Donaldson (West Coast), Fahmy Toilalo (Otahuhu)
Ron Massey Cup: Bronson Reuben (Kaiapoi), Jirah Momoisea (St Paul's College), Sione Siulua (Manurewa)
I'm also pondering the Knights Kiwi-NRL vibe. Sosaia Latu and Haami Loza have both moved up from U19 SG Ball to U21 Jersey Flegg in recent weeks. Latu's got some try-scoring clips but don't overlook Loza who has emerged as one of the best halves from Aotearoa in an Aussie system. Temple Kalepo (Ellerslie) has played a few games at hooker as well and Knights also had a deep SG Ball Kiwi-NRL crew with Jarome Falemoe (SCC) and Bailey Carmichael (Te Puke) getting game time as well.
Knights
NRL: Greg Marzhew (Mangere East), Leo Thompson (Napier Marist)
NSW Cup: Sebastian Su'a (Mt Albert)
Jersey Flegg: Sosaia Latu (Mangere East), Haami Loza (Mangere East/Otara), Elijah Leaumoana (SCC), Jayden Harris (Kohukohu/Hikurangi), Te Kaio Cranwell (Linwood)
Aotearoa Musical jam…
Wildcard’s Notebook
The Tall Blacks will get a proper write-up of their Olympic Qualifying quest over the coming days, suffice to say that they did not make it. An absolutely brilliant win over Croatia in the first game meant they could advance as long as they didn’t lose by double-digits against Slovenia. Except then they only scored nine points in the first quarter and, despite hauling themselves back into the contest, they couldn’t hang tight in the second half. Lost 104-78. A 26-point margin, which to be fair blew out towards the end because the Tall Blacks were taking and missing hopeful threes while Slovenia were zoned in and chasing the 29-point win that would have gotten them top seed in the group. Luka Doncic had a 36-point triple-double for Slovenia which more or less explains what happened.
Shout outs are in order to Shea Ili who reminded everyone once again of his world class status...
Shea Ili vs Croatia:
24 MIN | 18 PTS (6/9 FG, 1/1 3PT, 5/7 FT) | 4 REB | 4 AST
Shea Ili vs Slovenia:
30 MIN | 28 PTS (7/12 FG, 3/4 3PT, 11/15 FT) | 10 REB | 4 AST | 2 STL
He was basically the only bloke who proved a consistent scoring threat in both games though. Maybe a bit of Izayah Le’Afa as well, with 14 points followed by 12 points. He shot 7/14 from deep across the tournament yet was 0/5 from inside the arc.
Corey Webster went from 21 points on 8/14 shooting vs Croatia to 6 points on 2/15 shooting vs Slovenia and there wasn’t enough offence to go around without his contributions. Finn Delany scored 11 combined points on 4/14. Reuben Te Rangi scored 10 points on 3/13. Let alone our lack of size and rebounding. We just didn’t quite have it, so it goes. But that win over Croatia was something special.
Now here’s Reuben Te Rangi explaining the meaning behind Tu Kaha O Pango, the Tall Blacks haka...
The Breakers have announced their new head coach and it’s... Finnish legend Petteri Koponen. Standard Breakers areas. Doubt any kiwi coaches even bothered to apply.
As a player, Koponen had a stellar career in Europe, twice logging 50/40/90 seasons in the EuroLeague and winning the EuroCup in 2015 with BC Khimki of Russia. He never played NBA though he did get drafted back in 2007 by the Philadelphia 76ers... draft rights that were randomly traded to the New York Knicks just a couple of weeks ago for some weird reason. He had a couple of Summer League experiences with the Portland Trail Blazers but nothing beyond that. PK also happens to share a common club with Breakers owner Matt Walsh as they both played for Virtus Bologna. Didn’t quite overlap there but it’s probably not a coincidence that they were both battling away in Europe at the same time and now Kop’s got this gig.
As a coach, he’s very young at 36 years of age. Kop does have a couple of years’ experience with the Adidas Next Generation tournament (sort of a EuroLeague under-18s competition) as well as some Helsinki Basketball Academy stuff. He’s also currently part of the San Antonio Spurs staff for Summer League as one of six guest coaches working on Kenny Trevino’s staff (Trevino is the lead video analyst for Gregg Popovich’s NBA staff, having joined the franchise 11 years ago as an equipment manager... aka a ballboy). The Breakers called Kononen an “assistant coach” in the announcement but the Spurs’ official classifications say otherwise…
Old mate Matt Walsh assures us that this guy is one of the best young coaches on the planet but we’ll just have to take his word for that because so far Kop’s experience has all been centred around youth/developmental stuff. This seems to be his first senior head coaching role.
Matt Walsh: “The head coaching position at the BNZ Breakers is one of the most sought-after jobs in basketball outside of the NBA, and we had amazing interest shown in the role over the last month. My goal was to find the best coach to lead the Breakers, and I am very confident we have found the right person for the job. Being the Head Coach of the Breakers comes with a lot of responsibility. We ran an exhaustive search that included coaches from all over the world and included former NBA head coaches. Petteri was an incredible player who has seamlessly transitioned to coaching and shares my vision of growing the game of basketball in New Zealand. Breaker Nation, we got a good one, and I can't wait for you all to meet 'Coach Kop’.”
Apparently Walshy has a vision for growing the game of basketball in New Zealand? That must be why they only have one kiwi player on the main roster right now and have not had a single kiwi coach on their staff for the past two years. Also, this is one of the most sought-after jobs in the world outside the NBA yet Mody Maor just left (with a year on his contract) to sign with a middling team in Japan. Very few things contain more nonsense than a Breakers press release.
Newly minted NZ tennis rep Lulu Sun is in action tonight at 10pm in her third round Wimbledon single match (weather permitting). She’s up against Zhu Lin of China who is 30 years old and ranked 61st and has never been past the third round of a grand slam event before. Not saying it’s one that Sun will be favoured in but it is a match-up she’ll at least have a chance with.
Lulu Sun already knocked out top-10 world ranked Qinwen Zheng in the first round, before taking down Yuliia Starodubtseva of Ukraine in the second. This after winning three straight qualifying games just to get to the main draw. Like most folks, I did not really know who Lulu Sun was before this week. So allow me to offer a quick recap of some stuff I’ve learned...
Sun was born in Te Anau, way down south, to a Croatian father (she used to go by Lulu Radovcic) and a Chinese mother, though the family moved to Switzerland when she was five.
She did a little bit of juniors stuff on the ATP tour, including a runners-up effort in the Australian Open doubles back in 2018 (paired with Violet Apisah of Australia/PNG). She mostly represented Switzerland at that time though did briefly compete under the NZ flag for the Wimbledon juniors (seems there may have been some issues with her passport as a naturalised citizen?).
Since then it’s been Switzerland the whole way, although Sun spent most of that time playing American college tennis at UT Texas. Hence it’s only in the past 18 months, now aged 23, that she’s been doing senior ATP stuff.
She qualified for the Australian Open earlier this year as a wildcard, losing in the first round. That was her first Grand Slam and she competed under the Swiss flag.
However, she does still have grandparents in Aotearoa and she came back to do some training stuff in 2015. Then, at the start of this year (prior to the Aussie Open), she had a crack at the ASB Classic in Auckland where apparently the organisers weren’t even aware of her NZ affiliations at first but word soon caught on as she made it to the round of sixteen and she got such a great reception that she was open to a switch when Tennis NZ got on the case.
Fast-forward to Wimbledon and that process is complete and she’s winning games, sets, and matches with a chance to become the first kiwi to make the fourth round of a singles event since Brett Steven in 1997 (Wimbledon)… plus she’s already booked to play doubles with Erin Routliffe at the Olympics in a few weeks.
Here are the Football Ferns squads from the last three major tournaments. Players who made the 18 for the 2024 Paris Olympics are bolded...
World Cup 2023 (12/23):
Erin Nayler, Ria Percival, Claudia Bunge, CJ Bott, Michaela Foster, Malia Steinmetz, Ali Riley, Daisy Cleverley, Gabi Rennie, Annalie Longo, Olivia Chance, Betsy Hassett, Rebekah Stott, Katie Bowen, Paige Satchell, Jacqui Hand, Hannah Wilkinson, Grace Jale, Liz Anton, Indi Riley, Vic Esson, Milly Clegg, Anna Leat
Olympics 2021 (7/22):
Erin Nayler, Ria Percival, Anna Green, CJ Bott, Meikayla Moore, Claudia Bunge, Ali Riley, Abby Erceg, Gabi Rennie, Annalie Longo, Olivia Chance, Betsy Hassett, Paige Satchell, Katie Bowen, Daisy Cleverley, Emma Rolston, Hannah Wilkinson, Anna Leat, Liz Anton, Marisa van der Meer, Michaela Robertson, Vic Esson
World Cup 2019 (5/23):
Erin Nayler, Ria Percival, Anna Green, CJ Bott, Nicole Stratford, Rebekah Stott, Ali Riley, Abby Erceg, Emma Kete, Annalie Longo, Sarah Gregorius, Betsy Hassett, Rosie White, Katie Bowen, Sarah Morton, Katie Duncan, Hannah Wilkinson, Steph Skilton, Paige Satchell, Daisy Cleverley, Vic Esson, Olivia Chance, Nadia Olla
As for the Men’s Olympic football squad... that appears to have been held up. Both teams were supposed to be filed on Tuesday but it wasn’t until Thursday that the Ferns squad came to public light and we’re still waiting for the blokes as of the time of whacking send on this newsletter. Seems like getting players released from their clubs is proving trickier than anticipated.
Flying Kiwis Transfer Tracker
Turns out that Anna Leat is going nowhere. Despite rumours a few months back that she would leave at the end of her contract, Leaty’s signed a fresh deal to remain with Aston Villa next season – with the club holding an option to extend that for an additional year. There hasn’t been any movement with her fellow AVFC goalie Daphne van Domselaar yet... but nor have Arsenal, who have been heavily rumoured with trying to sign DVD, unveiled their new goalie either. Best case scenario is that DVD gaps it and Leat is the undisputed number one. She’s at the stage where she’s probably paid her dues as a back-up so for her to return to Aston Villa does suggest that this may be the case.
Also adding to the goalkeeping news is Nik Tzanev who has joined Northampton Town following his release at AFC Wimbledon. That means leaping up from League Two to League One, however he’s probably going to have to stay a backup for his new club – with the manager’s quotes pretty much confirming as much. Still, it’s another progressive move from a kiwi goalie... and you never know how things may unfold. Max Crocombe joined a League One club as backup last year and within two months he’d overtaken the other bloke and went on to be named Burton Albion’s Player of the Season.
And another one: James Musa got traded a few days back. He retutned to Colorado Springs in the USL for this year but barely played. Only three games and none since April, when he was subbed off at half-time of a loss against Sacramento. He literally has not been sighted in a matchday squad since. Fortunately, he’s finally been freed from football jail by a trade to Indy Eleven where he’s now a teammate of Elliot Collier at club that has won eight of its past ten matches. Seems like a positive outcome.
You know I love a bit of squad announcement Sherlocking and this latest Football Ferns squad did not disappoint. Katie Bowen was listed with Inter Milan which suggests they’ve taken up her second-year option as expected. Ally Green is still with AGF which backs up the evidence that she’s remaining there (despite hardly playing in the second half of the season). Jacqui Hand is unattached along with Kate Taylor, Grace Jale, and Meikayla Moore. Yet for some reason Annalie Longo is listed with the Wellington Phoenix whereas Michaela Foster is not. Neither of them are under contract with the Nix right now. Foster had been listed as a Nix player for the previous international window (whereas the likes of Taylor and Jale were already unattached) but recently popped up with Auckland United for a few games to stay fit. Except that Longo’s been doing the same with Cashmere Tech so that doesn’t make much sense. On top of that, the A-League’s official account did a graphic listing all the current ALW players and they didn’t flag Taylor or Jale but they did flag Foster and Longo. Make of that what you will. My guess is that Foster and Longo both end up back with the Nix but that Jale is joining Taylor in heading overseas.
Musical Jam contribution...