Merry Opinions
Warriors & Kiwi-NRL, Football Ferns & All Whites, NZers winning NCAA championships, Blackcaps & White Ferns prospects, and more
Scotty’s Word
NZ Warriors take on Melbourne Storm on Saturday night. There have been some worrying signs for Warriors in the last two weeks and the first thing I don’t like stretches beyond the NRL losses because they have a 2-8 record across the grades in their last two weekends of footy.
The only team that has won is the NSW Cup group. This included Wests Tigers winning four of five games in Auckland, then Sharks won two of their three games last weekend. The U19/U17 teams had two losses vs Steelers last weekend and are not playing finals footy, which is a big drop off for the Harold Matthews Cup tier who won two championships in their first two seasons of U17 footy.
Bad signs don’t get much more alarming than not having someone at dummy half and turning the ball over because of it. This has happened two games in a row which is crazy and both instances happened at horrible moments. Against Tigers, Jackson Ford picks up the ball from a Tigers error as they were working out of their own half and then NZW turn the ball over just as they want to start an attacking set…
Against Sharks, NZW scored after half-time and were rolling down the field. They shift to their left edge, Leka Halasima makes metres and no one could be bothered to help their team mate out. In both cases, NZW players turn away from the ruck as if they are expecting someone else to do their job and that is not a good sign.
NZW have had a lower average set distance than their opposition in every game this season. They were above 36m per set in the three wins but also completed over 80% in those wins, then dropped below those markers in the two losses...
vs Roosters: 39.26m | 39.52m - 81%
vs Raiders: 36.19m | 37.88m - 86%
vs Knights: 38.37m | 40.01 - 87%
vs Tigers: 32.79m | 37.35m - 77%
vs Sharks: 35.9m | 44.84m - 76%
Completing sets and maintaining possession can balance out the metres difference in sets. If NZW aren’t completing at a high level though, it starts to look like they are getting monstered as fatigue and fizz from the opposition compounds.
Five Kiwi-NRL debutants so far this season and they sum up Kiwi-NRL matters nicely.
Three from Auckland, one from Waikato, one from West Coast. Three played 1st 15 rugby. Two played rugby league while playing 1st 15. Two made NZRL junior rep teams. Two Samoans, two Tongans, one Maori.
Kiwi-NRL/NRLWahine in NSWRL Under 19 finals this weekend…
Tarsha Gale Cup
Eels
Bllie Va’a (Wainuiomata), Sualo Lafoga (Southland Girls High School)
Bulldogs
Shanthie Lui (Mangere East), Tiare-Anne Leauga (Mangere East), Levonah Motuliki (Howick College), Moira Fetu (Hornby), Violet Hiku (Manurewa High School), Evelyn Roberts (Mangere East), Giovanna Suani (Mangere East), Mary-Jane Taito (Mangere East), Lahnayah Daniel (Waitakere College), Riley Fruean-Otineru (Mangere East), Josinah Filisi Tauiliili (Mangere East), Terongomaianiwaniwa Williams (Eastern Eagles)
Roosters
Te Raukura Leafe (Randwick), Luca-Bella Ngatuere-Ongley (Randwick)
Sharks
Julliana Koli (Linwood)
Panthers
Olive Connolly (Linwood), Malena Lavea (Richmond), Tyali Raihe (Taniwharau), Monica Ben (Otara), Jhaya Katyal (Taniwharau)
Knights
Shikynah Pearson (Raukawa Ki Runga), Charley Lahmert (Bell Block)
Steelers
Paige Tauaneai (Wainuiomata)
SG Ball Cup
Rabbitohs
Phillip Lavakeiaho (Papatoetoe), George Kite (Papatoetoe)
Bulldogs
Kaawyn Patterson (Dargaville), Fine Fale (Waikato), Azariah Toki-Mautairi (Otahuhu)
Knights
Devante Hurrell-Epati (Te Atatu), Ryder Crosswell (Dannevirke)
Roosters
Bastion Armstrong (Otahuhu), Charleston Te Rore (Otara)
For paid subscribers I have more Kiwi-NRL notes, NZ Warriors deep cuts and NZ-A updates from their tour of Sri Lanka.
I don’t do rankings for my 10 Best Young Cricketers deep dives so I added some rankings to the prep mahi laid out below. This zones in on players who were 25-years-old or younger by the end of the season and that rules out a bunch of emerging talent so I’ve included notable names who are too old and some honourable mentions as well. It also excludes players who have already played for Aotearoa and there’s lots of younger folk who have done so in recent years...
Blackcaps
Rhys Mariu, Tim Robinson, Bevon Jacobs, Dean Foxcroft, Muhammad Abbas, Mitch Hay, Nathan Smith, Zak Foulkes, Adithya Ashok, Will O’Rourke, Matt Fisher
White Ferns
Georgia Plimmer, Izzy Gaze, Emma McLeod, Izzy Sharp, Flora Devonshire, Nensi Patel, Bree Illing, Molly Penfold, Eden Carson, Fran Jonas
Men
Curtis Heaphy
Simon Keene
Matthew Boyle
Tim Pringle
Lachlan Stackpole
Thomas O’Connor
Jacob Cumming
Toby Findlay
Jamal Todd
Jock McKenzie
Old
Dale Phillips, Ryan Harrison, Ben Pomare, Jesse Tashkoff, Luke Georgeson, Max Chu, Thorn Parkes
Honourables
Marco Alpe, Xavier Bell, Snehith Reddy, Oscar Jackson, Cameron Paul, Toby Hart
Women
Emma Black
Xara Jetly
Marama Downes
Anna Browning
Hannah Francis
Lucy Boucher
Missy Banks
Amie Hucker
Ashtuti Kumar
PJ Watkins
Old
Sarah Asmussen, Jess Simmons
Honourables
Prue Catton, Ayaan Lambat, Natasha Wakelin, Eve Wolland, Holly Top, Cate Pedersen, Kate Gaging, Louisa Kotkamp
Musical jam…
Nick’s Notebook
The Football Ferns will seek to book their tickets to next year’s World Cup over the next week. They’re in Hamilton to play against Fiji on Sunday at 4pm in the semi-final and then, all things going to plan, will meet either Papua New Guinea or American Samoa in the final in Auckland (North Harbour Stadium) at 7pm on Wednesday. Probably American Samoa who’ve been putting extra emphasis on the American side of things lately, with a former USA international as coach and a bunch of diaspora players. They gave the Ferns by far their toughest test of the group phase thanks to some very sturdy defence.
Champs go straight through to the 2027 World Cup, runners-up enter the intercontinental playoff phase for a second chance. Note that the Ferns have never lost to any current members of the Oceania confederation. They should win both games to nil, scoring many goals in the process (especially on the smoother surfaces in Aotearoa), though it’s never very wise to go announcing things before they happen.
There’s a full written preview of this window over here. The main thing that’s happened since then is that Indi Riley has picked up an injury and has been replaced by Manaia Elliott in the squad. Less than ideal given that IPR is pretty much NZ’s most potent attacker (and had a very strong impact off the bench in the American Samoa game)... although the returns of players like Jacqui Hand and Gabi Rennie plus having a more match-fit Milly Clegg ought to help these matters. As does the fact that it’s an extended 11-day window meaning players won’t have to rush back to their clubs afterwards and can put full focus on these matches. Should see top choice elevens in both.
Predicted Football Ferns Starting Eleven:
Vic Esson; Claudia Bunge, Kate Taylor, Mickey Foster; Gabi Rennie, Grace Jale, Maya Hahn, Katie Kitching, Ally Green; Kelli Brown, Jacqui Hand
Rebekah Stott might squeeze Bunge out of the way and I’m not as sure about the LWB spot that Riley was probably going to be playing... Charlotte Lancaster was very good last tour and Manaia Elliott’s been playing there for the Nix. Even though she wasn’t in the initial squad, she might still make the starting eleven after the reshuffle. Grace Wisnewski might get the nod over Maya Hahn (even though Wiz has been playing CB lately, believe it or not).
By the way, that’s a squad that is missing the likes of Indi Riley, Anna Leat, Lara Wall, Grace Neville, Zoe McMeeken, Alyssa Whinham (all injured), CJ Bott (pregnant), Macey Fraser, Malia Steinmetz, Jana Radosavljevic (recently returned from injury/absence), Katie Bowen, Mack Barry, Marisa van der Meer (not selected), Betsy Hassett, Annalie Longo (recently retired), and a quite a few others who’ve played professionally within the past two years.
It’s gotta be recognised that the Ferns are in a rebuilding phase. Of the starting eleven that beat Norway at the 2023 World Cup, four have retired, and a couple others have only been picked sparingly since. In fact the only ones from that eleven who are in this current squad are Esson, Stott, and Hand. Indi Riley was going to be until she got injured. That was the opening game of a World Cup, the best eleven that the team had available to them... and it’s almost a completely different team. And that squad already felt like it was in transition following a bunch of retirements since the previous World Cup (Tom Sermanni even coaxed a couple player out of retirement for the 2019 WC).
Football Ferns 0-1 Netherlands at 2019 World Cup:
Nayler; Bott, Stott, Erceg, A.Riley; Percival, Bowen, Chance, Hassett; White, Gregorius
Football Ferns 1-0 Norway at 2023 World Cup:
Esson; Bott, Stott, Bowen, A.Riley; I.Riley, Percival, Steinmetz, Hassett; Hand, Wilkinson
A full strength team at next year’s World Cup should still have Bott, Bowen, Stott, Steinmetz, and I.Riley. But there’s no guarantees given that only Riley has been a regular under Michael Mayne. Esson and Hand will be competing for places. Point being it’s a very different group these days and that’s gotta be taken into account when tracking them against past achievements. But the depth is crazy. The depth is better than it’s ever been in terms of professional players in contention for selection... it’s just that not enough of them have yet risen to the highest club levels. That’s happening though, slowly but steadily. Rennie and Clegg debuted in the Swedish top division recently, as detailed in the latest Flying Kiwis.
Paid Subscribers can have a geeze at some All Whites mythbusting and a bit of Auckland/Wellington A-League extras - much love and appreciation to all the folks who support what we do financially… and it’s never too late for the rest of youz
Oscar Goodman’s Michigan team won the Men’s NCAA basketball title. There was one kiwi NCAA champion in all of history until this week when suddenly there were two in two days. All very different scenarios though...
Jack Salt was the first of them with Virginia back in 2019. He was a valued senior who’d spent his whole four-year career with the Cavaliers including as the starting centre in the last three of those years. But when it came to their national tournament run, he found his minutes shrink as they leaned away from using a traditional rebounding/defending/non-shooting big man in those games. He started the first one but only got five minutes and dropped to the bench from there. He did have one showcase game in the quarter-finals when he logged 34 mins in an overtime win vs Purdue (5p/8r/2s). But on the whole he only played 56 mins across the six games. Solid culture-setting senior who did a job in spot minutes.
Charlisse Leger-Walker, on the other hand, was a starting guard throughout UCLA’s title run. She didn’t need to do a lot of scoring on a team absolutely loaded with talent – it’s expected their entire starting five will be first round draft picks in the WNBA next week – but she played at least 26 mins in every round, adding up to 169 minutes in total. And, as you’d imagine, she made her presence known with balance and control. 33 points, 18 rebounds, 32 assists, 7 steals. She contributed on the court as well as off it, not the star player but still a key player.
Oscar Goodman was a redshirt freshman. He’s at the beginning of his college career rather than the end of it (the redshirt thing means he was with the team last year but was ineligible to play, preserving a year of eligibility – often that’s due to injury but in his case it’s because he joined the team mid-season after finishing high school... effectively it was a jump start for this season which was always going to be year one for him). As such, he barely played at all. Just a bit of garbage time here and there, including a DNP in the final. 11 minutes combined. No sweat, he only turned 19 years old in February. He’s learning at the highest level playing behind national champions – with up to three of them expected to be first round draft picks. Goes to show that not only are there big numbers of college recruits coming out of Aotearoa but they’re also being recruited by the very best schools.
Things Oscar Goodman Has Already Done In His Basketball Career
Won an NCAA national championship with Michigan
All Star Five at 2024 FIBA U17 World Cup as NZ finished fourth
Fourth place at the 2025 FIBA U19 World Cup
MVP of the 2023 FIBA Under-16 Asian Championship
Debuted for the Tall Blacks at 17 years of age
Participated in NBA Global Academy development camp
Any one of those things makes him a top prospect, by the way. Having done all of that stuff (and more) at the age of 19 makes him one of the most exciting players we’ve ever produced.
Chris Wood is going to (hopefully) play some football tomorrow morning...
Nottingham Forest manager Vitor Pereira: “[Chris Wood] has started to train with the team. He is available for the game. He is working with us, we need to manage him a little bit physically but he has travelled. It means he is available to be in the game tomorrow. He is an experienced player, he scores goals and it’s important to be ready for the team in this moment because we face a lot of challenges.”
The game in question is Nottm Forest’s Europa League quarter-final away leg against Porto (Portugal). 7Am kick off NZT for those of you with DAZN subscriptions or the means to bypass one. Told ya in Flying Kiwis yesterday that he was on track to make his first team comeback in that match and sure enough he’s travelled with the squad and will probably be available off the bench. Here’s some more stuff on that courtesy of the BBC...
Since his arrival at the City Ground in January 2023, Forest have played 67 games in which Wood has started, winning 25 times, and 59 games in which he has not, winning 15 times. Forest’s win percentage with him starting is 37.3% with a points-per-game rate of 1.4, while it is 25.4% without him with a points-per-game of 1.0. He returns with Forest fighting to reach a European semi-final for the first time in 42 years while they also battle for Premier League survival.
He wasn’t playing that well before he got injured (a knee cartilage issue that didn’t recover with rest, leading to clean-up surgery in December) but NFFC have only gotten worse without him. They’re tracking okay in the Europas in large part because Igor Jesus has scored seven goals in ten matches. But the Brazilian striker only has three in 30 games in the Premier League. Averaging a goal every 600 minutes, pretty much. Taiwo Awoniyi has been a non-factor (although he did score off the bench in the win vs Spurs). They loaned Arnaud Kalimuendo to Eintracht Frankfurt in January and in three months he’s already more than doubled the goals he scored for Forest in the first half of the season. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and Chris Wood is going to return to NFFC as an even more important player than he was before.
Musical Jam...
