Hectic Efforts
Blackcaps in ODIs, National League football, Kiwis in NBL, Warriors offseason activities, Wellington Phoenix ALW & plenty more
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All Whites in the November WCQs: Squad Yarns & Preview (Football)
2024 Women’s National League – Week 7 (Football)
2024 Men’s National League – Week 7 (Football)
Flying Kiwis – November 14 (Football)
2023/24 Ford Trophy: Auckland Finish First Stanza Top Of The Table (Cricket)
Observations From The 2024 New Zealand Cricket Resurgence (Cricket)
New Zealand T20I/ODI Tour Of Sri Lanka Notebook: Emerging Talent & Will Young (Cricket)
2024 Pacific Championship Debrief For New Zealand Kiwis & Kiwi Ferns (Rugby League)
The Kiwi-NRL Juniors Who Helped Australian Teams Win In 2024 (Rugby League)
New Zealand Warriors Sign Tanah Boyd & Pacific Championship Wrinkles (Rugby League)
Scotty’s Word
Blackcaps have played four ODIs since the last World Cup, here’s how lads who have played at least two games have performed…
Batting
Will Young: 268 runs @ 67avg/100sr, 1 x 100, 1 x 50
Tom Latham: 147 runs @ 73avg/103sr, 1 x 50
Henry Nicholls: 102 runs @ 25avg/86sr, 1 x 50
Rachin Ravindra: 53 runs @ 17avg/113sr
Tom Blundell: 29 runs @ 14avg/74sr
Mark Chapman: 24 runs @ 8avg/100sr
Josh Clarkson: 17 runs @ 8avg/71sr
Bowling
Jacob Duffy: 7w @ 22.5avg/5.3rpo
Will O'Rourke: 5w @ 23avg/6.1rpo
Josh Clarkson: 3w @ 24avg/6rpo
Adam Milne: 3w @ 46avg/6.9rpo
Ish Sodhi: 3w @ 32avg/6rpo
Adithya Ashok: 1w @ 65avg/6.3rpo
Rachin Ravindra: 1w @ 39avg/5.5rpo
Rough Speed Gauge For Blackcaps Seamers
145km/h: Lockie Ferguson, Adam Milne
140km/h: Will O'Rourke, Ben Sears
135km/h: Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Jacob Duffy, Zak Foulkes, Nathan Smith, Ben Lister, Henry Shipley, Blair Tickner
130km/h: Tim Southee, Josh Clarkson
Plunket Shield Stat Leaders
Batting
Bevon Jacobs: 154 runs @ 77avg/61sr, 2 x 50
Dane Cleaver: 151 runs @ 54sr, 1 x 100
Max Chu: 151 runs @ 75avg/59sr, 2 x 50
Jeet Raval: 138 runs @ 69avg/55sr, 1 x 50
Logan van Beek: 128 runs @ 64avg/64sr, 1 x 100
Chad Bowes: 124 runs @ 62avg/97sr, 1 x 100
Bharat Popli: 91 runs @ 45avg/53sr, 1 x 50
Peter Younghusband: 72 runs @ 36avg/54sr, 1 x 50
Sandeep Patel: 71 runs @ 71avg/66sr, 1 x 50
Will O'Donnell: 70 runs @ 35avg/43sr, 1 x 50
Matt Boyle: 69 runs @ 34avg/66sr, 1 x 50
Jake Gibson: 62 runs @ 62avg/51sr, 1 x 50
Brett Hampton: 50 runs @ 50avg/59sr, 1 x 50
Bowling
Liam Dudding: 7w @ 15avg/3.4rpo, 1 x 4w
Blair Tickner: 6w @ 13avg/2.4rpo
Danru Ferns: 6w @ 16avg/3.5rpo
Jordan Sussex: 5w @ 17avg/3rpo, 1 x 4w
Jayden Lennox: 5w @ 17avg/2.1rpo
Matt Fisher: 5w @ 18avg/3.7rpo
Logan van Beek: 5w @ 24.8avg/4.2rpo, 1 x 5w
Kristian Clarke: 5w @ 25avg/3.7rpo, 1 x 4w
Brett Randell: 4w @ 5avg/1.8rpo, 1 x 4w
Travis Muller: 4w @ 16avg/2.3rpo
Michael Snedden: 4w @ 18.7avg/2.5rpo
Simon Keene: 4w @ 23avg/2.7rpo
Sean Solia: 3w @ 13avg/2rpo
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Blackcaps in Plunket Shield
Tom Blundell: 6, 63 | 69 runs @ 34avg/70sr
Devon Conway: 36, 28 | 64 runs @ 32avg/51sr
Tom Latham: 33, 26 | 59 runs @ 29avg/45sr
Daryl Mitchell: 10, 2w, 39, 0w | 49 runs @ 24avg/48sr
Matt Henry: 2w, 1w | 3w @ 33avg/2.9rpo
Rachin Ravindra: 7, 0 | 7 runs @ 3avg/33sr
Kiwis in WBBL
Amelia Kerr: 72 runs @ 36avg/120sr | 8w @ 10avg/7.4rpo (Sixers are 6th, 3-4)
Sophie Devine: 95 runs @ 19avg/113sr | 4w @ 24avg/7.4rpo (Scorchers are 3rd, 4-2)
Brooke Halliday joins Devine at Scorchers...
T20Is: 13.95avg/97sr | 14.57avg/6.9rpo
T20s: 14.28avg/90sr | 17.88avg/6.4rpo
HBJ Shield starts this weekend with games on Saturday and Sunday...
Northern Districts vs Auckland at Bay Oval
Canterbury vs Otago in Rangiora
Wellington vs Central Districts at Basin Reserve
Kiwi-NRL/NRLWahine updates
Georgia Hale suffered a bulging disk in NRLW round two and played the full season, then Pacific Championships. Crazy.
Bulldogs sign Maatuleio Fotu-Moala (Otahuhu) from Dragons for NRLW. Twin sister Metanoia Fotu-Moala is in the NZ Warriors NRL squad.
Cowboys sign Jaxson Paulo (Northcote) from Sea Eagles and release D'Jazirhae Pua'avase (Manurewa).
Sea Eagles re-sign Raymond Tuaimalo-Vaega (Marist) for one year
NZ Warriors were on tour...
Bunty Afoa still in the mix
Demitric is now Vaimauga
Kayliss Fatialofa, Kalani Going, Patrick Moimoi, Luke Hanson, Sio Kali on the rise
Welcome to Aotearoa Sam Healey
Musical jam
Wildcard’s Notebook
The international break means that there’s no A-League Men’s this week but the ladies are going full-steam ahead – with the Wellington Phoenix away to Newcastle Jets on Sunday at 5pm NZT trying to overcome their two opening defeats. A few hours before that, the Phoenix Reserves host Western Springs on the Fraser Park turf... where there might be a chance to see Imane Chebel who hasn’t been included in the wider squad for the Newcastle trip, the import defender having only recently arrived in the country. This despite Rebecca Lake missing the upcoming game due to injury.
Could make it tricky to fill out that back three, although Ella McMillan has been called up from the ressies. Kinda prefer McMillan in midfield but she has been in a back three for the reserves these past couple weeks (scoring a double against Central, both from corners). Alternatively, maybe Maya McCutcheon drops back and Daisy Brazendale gets a midfield start. Or potentially Lara Wall starts in the three.
That’s all intriguing stuff but more intriguing is the call-up for Ela Jerez. 16yo creative midfielder/winger who was one of the better players at the U17 World Cup recently and shot to prominence more than a year ago when she came off the bench to score a lovely winning goal in the Kate Sheppard Cup final for Western Springs. Originally from Whangarei, Jerez joined the Nix Academy this year. She has a goal and an assist in three WNL appearances, already looking a class above despite being younger than most of her teammates. Superb touch, wonderful dribbler, great eye for a pass, good finisher, excellent under pressure, fast, skilful, creative. To put it bluntly: she might be the best prospect in Aotearoa.
Wellington Phoenix – Youngest Ever ALW Players
17y 19d – Milly Clegg (20/11/22)
17y 267d - Zoe McMeeken (03/12/21)
17y 322d - Daisy Brazendale (28/01/24)
18y 27d - Te Reremoana Walker (03/12/21)
18y 38d - Alyssa Whinham (03/12/21)
Notice how three of those players debuted in the same game... that was the club’s first-ever game, the 0-0 draw with Western Sydney Wanderers. If Jerez gets on the pitch on Sunday, she will be 22 days shy of her 17th birthday, beating Clegg’s record by more than a month.
Looking further afield, the Kelli Brown coronation seems to be unfolding as dreamed after she scored long-range goals in each of Perth Glory’s first two matches, starting both as the main striker having followed her Macarthur Rams coach Stephen Peters to the A-League team (following two years of scoring bundles in the NPL under Peters’ guidance). She never scored in her two seasons with the Welly Nix, only getting 403 minutes across 14 appearances.
Last week Liz Anton had a blinder for Canberra in shutting out the Nix, while Ruby Nathan got half a game too showing off some decent counter-attacking instincts. Rebekah Stott’s been injured for Melbourne City but she’s back this week. Bri Edwards has started both games for Sydney FC, though the defending champs are the only team other than the Nix with a 0-0-2 start. Deven Jackson will face the Nix this week for Newcastle, having already scored once this term. Plus Claudia Bunge has settled back into being one of Melbourne Victory’s best players. 18 NZers have gotten minutes so far. 12 at the Nix, 6 elsewhere.
All Whites Starts During Darren Bazeley Era (18 games)
17 – Liberato Cacace
14 – Marko Stamenic
12 – Matthew Garbett
11 – Tim Payne, Elijah Just
10 – Max Crocombe, Michael Boxall
9 – Nando Pijnaker, Alex Rufer, Callum McCowatt
8 – Tyler Bindon
7 – Ben Old, Joe Bell, Kosta Barbarouses, Chris Wood
6 – Ben Waine
5 – Finn Surman, Sarpreet Singh
4 – Tommy Smith, Cam Howieson, Max Mata
3 – Oli Sail, Bill Tuiloma
2 – Michael Woud, Alex Paulsen, Sam Sutton, Marco Rojas, Alex Greive
1 – Nik Tzanev, Storm Roux, Niko Kirwan, Callan Elliot, Dane Ingham, Clayton Lewis
Kiwi Minutes Leaders in NBL25
Sam Waardenburg (Cairns Taipans) – 323 mins / 29 mpg
Izayah Le’afa (Sydney Kings) – 247 mins / 21 mpg
Shea Ili (Melbourne United) – 231 mins / 23 mpg
Rob Loe (Melbourne United) – 220 mins / 17 mpg
Tyrell Harrison (Brisbane Bullets) – 271 mins / 27 mpg
Reuben Te Rangi (Tasmania JackJumpers) – 203 mins / 17 mpg
Sam Mennenga (NZ Breakers) – 200 mins / 22 mpg
Flynn Cameron (Melbourne United) – 189 mins / 15 mpg
Tai Webster (Perth Wildcats) – 155 mins / 19 mpg
Tom Vodanovich (SEM Phoenix) – 145 mins / 12 mpg
Kiwi Points Leaders in NBL25
Sam Waardenburg (Cairns Taipans) – 176 pts / 16.0 ppg
Rob Loe (Melbourne United) – 114 pts / 8.8 ppg
Sam Mennenga (NZ Breakers) – 113 pts / 12.6 ppg
Tyrell Harrison (Brisbane Bullets) – 103 pts / 12.9 ppg
Flynn Cameron (Melbourne United) – 99 pts / 7.6 ppg
Shea Ili (Melbourne United) – 86 pts / 8.6 ppg
Tai Webster (Perth Wildcats) – 79 pts / 9.6 ppg
Izayah Le’afa (Sydney Kings) – 59 pts / 4.9 ppg
Reuben Te Rangi (Tasmania JackJumpers) – 53 pts / 4.4 ppg
Tom Vodanovich (SEM Phoenix) – 35 pts / 2.9 ppg
What if I told you that Auckland City might not qualify for the Men’s National League final? Because after consecutive stoppage time home defeats against Western Springs and the Phoenix Reserves that’s exactly what the case would be if the season finished now. They’re on 13 points while Napier City Rovers and Birkenhead United are each on 14 points. Only the top two advance. The last time ACFC missed the final was in 2018-19 back when there were semis and Team Wellington knocked them out (South Central Series and the other covid abandoned year excluded, of course). The last time they didn’t finish top two from the league portion was 2006-07 of the old NZFC.
Auckland City plays away to Napier City Rovers on the weekend so they could either fix things immediately or they might take catastrophic damage. It’ll be one of Rovers’ most important ever games (they’ve won cup finals and previous iterations of National Leagues so can’t be too effusive there, this is one of the more storied clubs in the country after all)... and one thing about Rovers is that they don’t make it easy for anyone. There’s a baseline of hectic effort, courageous defence, and rapid counter-attacking. And if that game is a draw then it opens up the pathways for pretty much everyone in the top six. It’s a ridiculously close competition this year. Fascinating football activities.
MNL Grand Final Picture
Napier City Rovers (14 PTS / +7 GD):
Auckland City (H), Coastal Spirit (H)
Birkenhead United (14 PTS / +5 GD):
Coastal Spirit (H), Cashmere Technical (A)
Auckland City (13 PTS / +5 GD):
Napier City Rovers (A), Wellington Olympic (A)
Western Springs (12 PTS / 0 GD):
Western Suburbs (A), Wellington Phoenix Reserves (H)
Wellington Olympic (11 PTS / +5 GD):
Wellington Phoenix Reserves (A), Napier City Rovers (H)
Coastal Spirit (11 PTS / +3 GD):
Birkenhead United (A), Auckland City (A)
Things are far less crazy on the Women’s side where Auckland United have continued on their merry way with six wins and a draw through seven rounds to sit top on 19 points. One more point will guarantee them a place in the decider, with home games against Southern United and Wellington Phoenix Reserves to follow. Shouldn’t expect any dramas there... with AUFC now only three games away from an undefeated 2024 across all competitions.
As for second place, right now Waterside Karori are on 15 points and also undefeated, though a few draws have left the door open for Eastern Suburbs on 13 points (who’ve won four games in a row and are the highest-scoring team in the comp despite having scored a sum of zero goals after the first three matches). West Coast Rangers are fourth on 11 points but they play both Waterside Karori and Eastern Suburbs so if they win both and Karori slip up against Southern in the final round then they could yet leapfrog their way into the grand final. If they don’t then they’ll rue a few of the results that got away from them earlier in the term due to late goals. Both grand finals have been confirmed for North Harbour Stadium in Auckland on Sunday 1 December.
MNL Team of the Week #7
GK – William Tønning (Napier City Rovers) – Occasionally risky, occasionally spectacular, always effective. WT was a man on a mission in the win away from Coastal, helping NCR withstand the ebbs and flows to grab three points and go top of the table.
RB – Dylan Connolly (Birkenhead United) – Another assist for a season tally that’s up to four now, only one behind Jack-Henry Sinclair’s MNL lead. Speedy and direct up the right edge. Whips in a good cross. He’s going great.
CB – Dylan Gardiner (Wellington Phoenix) – Jayden Smith’s got the scholarship deal and Jayden Smith scored the first goal but the WeeNix’s win over Auckland City (at Kiwitea!) was built upon both of them winning copious headers and launching in front of shots.
CB – Aaryan Raj (Eastern Suburbs) – Scored a lovely goal, glancing in with his side-foot off a free kick. Did his usual Rolls Royce defending stuff as Eastern Suburbs frustrated Birkenhead for most of the game. Always a class act.
LB – Stephen Hoyle (Napier City Rovers) – Also massive in NCR’s win was this bloke. Absolute beast in defence, man. Unmovable and he times a challenge almost as well as he times a header. Maybe he should’ve been a centre-back all along.
CM – Campbell Strong (Eastern Suburbs) – The midfield duel between Suburbs and Birko was so much fun that I’ve picked one from each team. Strong was at his best with the CDM activities, keeping that Birko transition attack from going nuts like they have done against almost every other team.
CM – Luke Jorgensen (Birkenhead United) – And here’s the other one, because while they weren’t able to catch Suburbs in broken play, they still matched them in a heavily physical game and once again nobody had a higher workrate than Jorgo... who also got his first goal of the season.
CM – Kailan Gould (Auckland City) – A rare case of a substitute making the TOW. Auckland City were 3-0 down when they subbed on the Bulldog and his tenacious energy immediately changed the game. Set up two of City’s goals as they came roaring back... though they did still lose. An even rarer case of a substitute making the TOW from a losing team.
FW – Gabriel Sloane-Rodrigues (Wellington Phoenix) – Silky smooth with the ball at his feet, whether he’s turning through pressure, dribbling into open space, laying down stepovers, or smacking the ball bottom corner like he did for a pair of goals against Auckland City. This kid is good.
FW – Hamish Watson (Wellington Olympic) – Big man things from Watto. Scored twice and probably should have gotten more, laying down the law with his strength up top in a way that Western Suburbs struggled to handle.
FW – Emiliano Tade (Western Springs) – Won’t say he looked washed last year, because he didn’t, but he did seem to have slowed down a bit. However, now he’s moved to Western Springs and he looks like he’s right back in his prime setting up a goal with a backheel and scoring one himself as the Swans won 4-3 in a thriller against Cashy Tech. The legend continues.
Musical Jam...