Light & Darkness
Blackcaps learnings, Flying Kiwis x Euro qualifiers, Liv Chance's trophies, Joseph Parker's latest & Breakers sign Tom Vodanovich (again)
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Podcast
Reading Menu
All Whites vs Costa Rica: Squad Yarns (Football)
A Wellington Phoenix Offseason Primer For The 2022-23 Campaign (Football)
Taking Stock Of Kane Williamson's Aotearoa Excellence (Cricket)
The Curious Summer Of Ajaz Patel (Cricket)
Exploring The (Relative) Kyle Jamieson Test Plateau (Cricket)
27fm Weekly Playlist: May 30 (Music)
Scotty’s Word
Zoning in on Blackcaps…
Lots of funky Aotearoa sporting stuff is floating around right now, however like the general shenanigans around the world right now there is a chaotic energy. As above, so below. I’d love to spin all the sporting yarns that I’ve pondered since the Friday dispatch but it’s tricky to find the mahi flow at the moment. And yet there is further Michael Bracewell clarity on offer.
Bracewell wasn’t in fabulous form across all formats last summer. His best format was Super Smash and now he’s grabbed Test squad selection. Bracewell has however steadily climbed up the Blackcaps ladder and impressed at every wee checkpoint this year. Here are Bracewell’s last 10 games…
Ford Trophy: 93r, 4r - 1w.
Plunket Shield: 13r - 1w, 2r - 3w.
NZ 11 vs Netherlands (O/D): 127* - 2w, 81r - 2w.
Blackcaps ODIs vs Netherlands: 1w, 1r - 3w, 3r - 1w.
Tour of England: 51* - 1w, 22r - 0w.
Bracewell wasn’t great in Plunket Shield and Ford Trophy, although much of his best mahi came late in the season. Then came games for an NZ 11 against Netherlands in which Bracewell and Dane Cleaver were the only experienced lads with that group consisting of fringe Plunket Shield lads. Bracewell was the only batter to score 30+ (127*) in the first game, then he was the only bowler to take 2w.
Second game and Bracewell took 2w again, joined by James Hartshorn’s 2w and Angus McKenzie’s 4w. Bracewell then hit 81 and was the last batter dismissed in a winning run-chase, with the next best batter being Matthew Boyle (41).
Bracewell was clearly the best player for the NZ 11 in that two game stint, perhaps the best player from either team. Bracewell captained the team in both games as well. Bracewell didn’t score any runs in the ODI series vs Netherlands but took wickets in all three games, before putting up a score in the first tour game in England.
10 games and Bracewell took wickets in eight games, with four 50+ scores (9inns). That’s decent mahi but more importantly, Bracewell elevated his mahi through the levels of cricket. Bracewell took his chance as an all-rounder and leader of the NZ 11, before taking that further with ODI and a tour overseas. Bracewell has also played alongside or against Aotearoa’s legends for over a decade, so this is now a combination of trust/reliability and progression through levels.
Factor in how Blackcaps treat domestic veterans compared to White Ferns. I’ve done my White Ferns dash and will only add that the wahine equivalent of Michael Bracewell could be Kate Ebrahim - who has dominated domestic cricket but steadily overlook for White Ferns selection. Add any other veteran wahine cricketer to this equation and you will find two different vibes. Blackcaps are successful, White Ferns are stinky.
Bracewell’s journey is in alignment with Matt Henry, Tom Blundell, Will Young, Daryl Mitchell, Ajaz Patel etc. Shiver me timbers, Jacob Duffy is in this Blackcaps squad despite not doing much in domestic cricket because of his domestic mana and Blackcaps group experience.
Domestic cricket is important and all these lads have enjoyed seasons of dominance. Some were on fire last season, others were not. They have all patiently gone about their mahi, growing into their best cricket and maturing as folks. Hence it is not surprising when someone like Bracewell elevates through the levels.
The path to Blackcaps is fairly rugged. Runs and wickets are required, usually over multiple seasons. One must also be a good bloke and wait for their turn, putting the team first in all aspects. One gains trust of the senior players and coaching staff over time. Then they pounce on an opportunity.
There are no barriers to White Ferns entry. There is no culture. There is no clear system for how the best players step up to international cricket. The more I learn about Blackcaps success, the more this highlights White Ferns woes.
The more learned about light, the more learned about darkness.
Wildcard’s Notebook
Liv Chance Trophy Time
Celtic’s women may have finished 17 points off first and 10 points off second in the SWPL (and 17 points ahead of fourth tbf) but they won both cup competitions, breaking a decade’s long drought without a trophy. It’s only really in the last couple years that the Celtic women’s team have turned up the Seriousness notch and that’s left them a bit behind Rangers and Glasgow City. So it goes... but two trophies makes this a highly successful season in which Olivia Chance has played a massive role.
Those cup comps were achieved the hard way too. They beat SWPL champs Rangers on the way to the final in both of those runs and beat runners-up Glasgow City in both of the finals. Guts to GC who thus came second in all three competitions. So Celtic are clearly good enough to beat the best in the country, no dramas there, even if their league match-ups went the other way.
Celtic vs Rangers/Glasgow City in Cup Comps:
W 1-0 vs Rangers on Oct 31 (SWPL Cup)
W 1-0 vs Glasgow City on Dec 5 (SWPL Cup final)
W 2-1 vs Rangers on Feb 13 (Scottish Cup)
W 3-2aet vs Glasgow City on May 29 (Scottish Cup final)
Celtic vs Rangers/Glasgow City in SWPL:
D 2-2 vs Glasgow City on Sep 12
L 0-1 vs Rangers on Nov 7
L 0-3 vs Rangers on Nov 27
L 0-2 vs Glasgow City on Feb 10
L 1-2 vs Glasgow City on Mar 13
L 1-3 vs Rangers on May 15
Four wins from four in cup comps; one draw and five defeats from six games in league play. The one draw that they managed was right at the start of the term in one of Liv Chance’s first games... and she came off the bench to score both goals as the Hoops came from two goals down for a point.
From that day on Chance started pretty much every game she was available for, outside of a few rotated elevens, and despite playing in a central midfield position she was hugely influential in the team’s attack all season. The stats are a mission to find but pretty sure she scored 7 goals and provided 12 assists. That’s 19 goal contributions from midfield which is insane... and it’s not like she was a flat-track bully either: of the 11 goals that Celtic scored against Rangers & Glasgow, Chance scored two and set up two others alone.
Flying Kiwis European Qualifiers
Unfortunately for Liv Chance’s Celtic, third place in the league doesn’t get them into the Champions League qualifiers. Won’t be able to repeat that achievement from the start of this term – Chance’s club debut came in a UCL qualifier. And while the fellas have had a third UEFA competition added into the mix, there’s only the UCL for the women so two cup triumphs doesn’t earn them anything in terms of continental footy either.
The change in format for the UCLW this season - fewer teams but introducing a group stage for more overall games - meant that for the first time in a decade there was no New Zealander involved in the competition proper at all. CJ Bott (Vålerenga) and Liv Chance (Celtic) both missed out in the qualifying stages, although Bott’s team advanced to the final 32 teams which was the same phase as they got to the season before when it did count as the competition proper.
Bott has since moved to Leicester City and we’ve just established Chance’s Celtic didn’t make it this time. What that means is that unless we get a transfer or two between now and August there won’t even be a kiwi woman involved in UCL qualifying either. So that’s a bummer.
How about the fellas? That story is a little happier there thanks to the lower tier UEFA competitions. As far as the Champions League goes, it depends on where Marko Stamenic is at in his development. FC Copenhagen won the Danish title and therefore start in the final playoff round, just one two-legged tie away from the UCL group stage and even if they lose they’ll still make the Europa League group stage. Stamenic has spent this season out on two separate loans in the second tier but he’s played regularly and impressed for HB Køge so perhaps next year will be the year he cracks into the first team for FCK.
And that’s about that for the Champions League unless Ryan Thomas manages to convince PSV (third qualifying round) to sign him back despite already having publically released him. Or if Sarpreet Singh hangs around with the Bayern Munich first team (direct qualifiers). It’s been 15 years since an NZ male last played in the Champions League (Chris Killen for Celtic) so we’re overdue... but may have to wait another year.
These days most Europa League qualifiers are now those that lose in the latter Champions League qualifying stages. That doesn’t currently mean anything to the Flying Kiwis... but the Conference League does. There we’ve got a first round qualifying entry for Sligo Rovers featuring Nando Pijnaker and Max Mata thanks to the club’s third-place finish last season. Ryan De Vries played for Rovers in the same stage of this past season’s inaugural edition so it’s the second straight year that Sligo Rovers have made it here. Maybe this time they’ll go past the first round.
Then in the second qualifying round we find Brøndby and Joe Bell. They didn’t know if they’d have to playoff for that spot coming into this past weekend or not but FC Midtjylland’s penalty shootout win in the Danish Cup meant that Brøndby got there automatically. FCM had already qualified for the UCL prelims thus Brøndby’s fourth placed league position became enough. AaB (fifth) instead got that playoff and lost 3-1 to Viborg. Funnily enough, Brøndby could end up drawing Joe Bell’s old club Viking in these ECL games.
And that’s that. But remember there’s a whole new Flying Kiwis Transfer Season to unfold before all these games and you never know what wonders may occur there the way that the last couple years have been.
Tales From BrokerNation
When Mody Maor took over from Dan Shamir a couple weeks ago he said some nice things about wanting to rebuild the kiwi core of the NZ Breakers. Breakers people saying the right things and Breakers people doing the right things have been two very different things under this ownership but fair play to Mody because so far he’s putting his money where his mouth is.
The two contracted players that they had on board coming into the offseason were Tom Abercrombie and Rob Loe. The club then picked up the option in Sam Timmins’ contract. Since that they’ve made two new signings: Dan Fotu and Tom Vodanovich, both on two-year deals, and convinced Will McDowell-White to return for another swing.
First off they should never have released Tommy V. As he became a free agent the fella won MVP at the NBL Showdown looking in the best shape of his life and shooting three-pointers at a sudden and brilliant rate. Exactly what they would have been hoping to see from him yet instead they went in another direction (also releasing Jordan Ngatai at the same time). Vodanovich ended up being an injury replacement for the Sydney Kings, did enough to be signed up for the following season too, and now returns to the Breakers as an NBL Champion. Kingly areas from him, to be fair.
That’s six out of 12 roster spots already filled by the Breakers and five of them are New Zealanders. Three of the remaining six will be imports and there’s always a possibility with these jokers that they’ll sign a Next Star on top of that as a bonus 13th man. But there could be as many as 5-6 additional New Zealanders to follow if they fill out their development player spots.
Vodanovich mentioned the kiwi core that’s coming together in his comments after signing. Tom Abercrombie has mentioned it in recent media opps. Mody Maor says is every time there’s a microphone near him. He also spoke about trying to “re-establish our culture and identity” which is funny because it’s a tacit acknowledgement that the culture and identity had eroded in recent times.
Naturally there’s also a difference between good intentions and successful ones and it remains to be seen whether Mody Maor can have the tactical impact that Dan Shamir was unable to produce with this team. It’ll definitely help if he can convince Finn Delany to come back but all I’ve heard on that front is that he’d prefer to head to Europe and, honestly, it’s about time for him to do exactly that. Test himself at that level. Probably wishes he’d gone a year ago.
But this is a funky little stretch for the Breakers where they seem to be doing unusually commendable things. Only having two players under contract entering this term, then losing a head coach, could just prove to be a blessing in disguise as it gives them the opportunity to hit the reset button. Will they make it work? Dunno. Hard to give them the benefit of the doubt based on recent times.
But it’s an opportunity. So far so good.
NBL Things
Aotearoa Heavyweight Boxing
Big things on the horizon here, starting with the Kambosos-Haney card that’s taking place in Melbourne this Sunday night – it’s a weird timing due to trying to appease American TV audiences.
On that card we’ve got Junior Fa vs Lucas Browne, Hemi Ahio vs Joe Jones, and David Nyika vs Karim Maatalla. Three kiwis in the same event and it’s not even a locally hosted one. Junior Fa is there because his promoted Lou DiBella is running the show as George Kambosos’ promoter. Then Hemi Ahio is there because he’s City Kickboxing teammates with Fa and as an undefeated heavyweight prospect he makes a tasty undercard addition. And David Nyika has existing links with both from having been on the Parker vs Fa undercard and also having done some training at CKB himself in the past.
That’s going to be massive. As for Joseph Parker, there’s news on that front too. The plan for ages has been that he’d fight Englishman Joe Joyce... but Joyce has been recovering from a wrist injury and now Parker’s training camp has delayed things further. Joyce’s lot wanted the fight on July 2. Parker wasn’t ready for that so Joyce is going to fight an as-yet-unnamed opponent on that date in London and then take on Parker in September on the quick turnaround.
The reason for the delay is that Parker’s trainer Andy Lee’s partner is expecting a child in July, while Parker himself is currently back in Aotearoa with his family. Nothing malicious. Merely bad timing.
Joe Joyce is 13-0 with 12 KOs as a pro. He won silver at the 2016 Olympic Games and gold at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. His most recent fight was a comprehensive win over Carlos Takam last July, the same opponent that kick started Joseph Parker’s career from prospect into contender. Parker is 30-2 having won six in a row.
Ah but having said that, David Higgins has been talking since the postponement making sure that folks realise that the deal with Joyce is only informal. Nothing has been signed, nothing is guaranteed. The Parker camp do dig that match-up but there’s nothing stopping them from going in a different direction either and the fight that both Higgins and Parker are frothing for the most is a rematch with Dillian Whyte. Whether that’s realistic, dunno. Could just be a negotiating tool to get a better deal against Joyce. But you never know.