Metre-Eaters
Warriors vs Panthers preview, Breakers offseason update, Wellington Phoenix ALW signings, kiwi cricketing matters, and more
Scotty’s Word
NZ Warriors play their first game vs Penrith Panthers at Mt Smart during the two Andys era on Saturday evening, which will also be the first time James Fisher-Harris lines up against the Bash Bro Moses Leota. Isaiah Papali'i returns to Mt Smart in the NRL team, while Preston Riki (NSW Cup) and Siale Faeamani (Jersey Flegg Cup) are also returning to Mt Smart. Add in Luke Hanson (NSW Cup) and Jett Cleary (Jersey Flegg Cup) playing against their former teams for all sorts of funky wrinkles.
NZW vs Panthers in two Andys era
2023 in Brisbane: 6-18
2023 in Penrith: 6-32
2024 in Brisbane: 22-20
Moala Graham-Taufa is named to start at centre in a cheeky flex of NZW outside back depth as he has already played a few NRL games and is selected due to Kurt Capewell, Ali Leiataua and Rocco Berry being unavailable. While there are dips in Graham-Taufa's metres per game and tackling efficiency, the quality of the NSW Cup team is evident in how the Marist junior is almost hitting his totals for tries and linebreaks from last season...
2023: 24 games, 9 tries, 9 linebreaks, 3 try assists, 115m/game, 88.2% tackling
2024: 18 games, 14 tries, 13 linebreaks, 2 try assists, 145m/game, 90.4% tackling
2025: 12 games, 11 tries, 10 linebreaks, 2 try assists, 117m/game, 89.7% tackling
Tokoroa's Caelys Putoko is named for his first NSW Cup game at centre after he returned to Aotearoa to settle as a fullback/centre for the U21s. I've got more NZW pipeline matters beyond the paywall for paid subscribers and the Patreon whanau - both are fabulous options to help fund our mahi.
Putoko was the fullback before Palmerston North's Joseph Ratcliffe was promoted from the U19 team and then he switched to centre. The Forestland junior was an NZ Schools rep in rugby union and then had a stint in the Titans system before coming back to Aotearoa. Putoko is still behind Sio Kali who I reckon will snap up the centre role when Graham-Taufa moves to Rabbitohs but Putoko is a sneaky impressive youngster on the rise at Mt Smart.
Speaking of Rabbitohs, they have recently promoted Mangere East junior Caelis Samuel to a starting edge forward role in U21s. Samuel played the U19 season earlier this year and along with Graham-Taufa, they are part of a growing Kiwi-NRL crew at Rabbitohs. Here's the Aotearoa flavour named this week...
NSW Cup: Salesi Ataata (Otahuhu), Devante Mihinui (Glenora), Javvier Pitovao (Pt Chevalier)
Jersey Flegg Cup: Nazareth Taua (Marist), Caelis Samuel (Mangere East)
Swing back to NZW and one main detail I'll be watching for is how NZW control territory. Assuming the State of Origin players don't travel to Auckland, NZW will have a better kicking game and they will be able to load up in defence to smash Panthers outside backs in the first few tackles of each set.
Panthers will be missing Dylan Edwards and Brian To'o who are fantastic metre-eaters. Nathan Cleary is a far better kicker than the NZW halves and he won't be playing. Not only is this a fundamental element of NZW footy, they have a clear advantage over the Panthers players selected and it will be Fisher-Harris leading that defensive effort.
Here's how the NZW NSW Cup and Harold Matthews Cup teams compare to Panthers during the two Andys era...
NSW Cup
2023
Warriors: 5th
Panthers: 3rd
2024
Warriors: 5th
Panthers: 6th
2025
Warriors: 1st
Panthers: 4th
Harold Matthews Cup
2024
Warriors: 6th - champions
Panthers: 9th
2025
Warriors: 3rd - champions
Panthers: 13th
NRLW trials are in motion and the only squad named as of Thursday morning is Cowboys for their game vs Broncos. There is a sneaky return of Autumn-Rain Stephens-Daly who wasn't part of their official squad but has returned to Cowboys from injury....
Najvada George: Auckland | Kiwi Fern
Rosie Kelly: Hokitika | Black Fern
Hailee-Jay Ormond-Maunsell: Invercargill | Kiwi Fern
Abigail Roache: Auckland | Kiwi Fern
Autumn-Rain Stephens-Daly: Rotorua | Kiwi Fern
Sophie Devine overview…
Last 10 games
Runs: 15, 25, 0, 38, 0, 0, 39*, 0, 1
Wickets: 0, 2, 1, 0, 0, 2, 5, 0, 1, 1
Last summer
ODI: 26avg/80sr | 32.6avg/5rpo
T20I: 25.6avg/101sr | 48.5avg/9.7rpo
HBJ Shield: 33 runs @ 33avg/67sr | 1w @ 21avg/7rpo
Super Smash: 38 runs @ 9.5avg/88sr | 8w @ 13.6avg/6.1rpo
Devine hit two sixes last summer with one in each international format. Two of the three losses for Wellington Blaze came with Devine in the team and she didn't play in their two finals wins.
NZ-A vs England A one-dayer schedule (all 10pm starts NZT)...
Monday 23rd - Derby
Thursday 26th - Derby
Sunday 29th - Chelmsford
Bree Illing season by season…
List-A
2021/22: 29.6avg/4.6rpo
2022/23: 4.3rpo
2023/24: 26.6avg/5.2rpo
2024/25: 25.2avg/4.5rpo
T20
2023/24: 31.5avg/6.3rpo
2024/25: 24.5avg/5.4rpo
For paid subscribers and the Patreon whanau I have listed the averages for notable White Ferns and NZ-A bowlers, split between seamers and spinners (the Kerr sisters are the best in both categories). I also put Will O'Rourke in the spotlight as he is steadily improving through his T20 Blast campaign and is scoring a few runs as well.
Matt Henry before and after start of 2020…
Tests
Before: 48.46
After: 24.17
ODI
Before: 26.48
After: 22.69
T20I
Before: 27.28
After: 22.4
Musical jam...
Wildcard’s Notebook
The following morning after Kosta Barbarouses’ move to Western Sydney Wanderers was confirmed, the Wellington Phoenix’s ALW team provided some relief with another cracking import signing. They’ve added 44-cap Dutch international midfielder Tessel Middag. Those international caps mostly came early in her career but the 32 year old has played at a high club level throughout. She broke through at ADO Den Haag where she won a league and cup double, then switched to Ajax where she again won a cup title. That led to a move abroad to Manchester City but she hardly played for them so she soon left for single-year stints with West Ham and Fiorentina before spending the past four years with Rangers in Scotland.
If the name sounds as familiar to you as it does to myself, that’s because she’s been teammates with Football Ferns goalkeeper Victoria Esson for the last three of those four years. They were both released by RFC at the end of the past season. Dunno if there’s anything deeper to read into that but you never know. Middag began her career as a goal-scoring midfielder though has gotten more defensive as she’s gotten older, including a lot of time spent in central defence last season. In the press release, she cited a few reasons for taking up the move:
The excellent facilities and professional support that the Wellington Phoenix provides.
The competitive balance in the A-League where you have to be on your game every week or else you’ll get turned over, unlike what she had in Scotland where Rangers had eight separate wins by at least eight goals last season (peaking with a 14-0 win against Queen’s Park).
“Additionally, my girlfriend is from New Zealand so playing for the Phoenix is an attractive opportunity for me on and off the field.”
There ya go. This follows the additions of Lucia Leon and Ellie Walker last week, all three of those players seeming to signal a different approach to recruitment. Whereas in the past, a lot of the imports had been debut or unproven professionals and those that weren’t tended to come from equivalent or lesser professional environments (the only real exception to that was Carolina Vilão who was excellent – even players like Rylee Foster and Olivia Fergusson, who’d played to a higher standard, weren’t at that phase of their careers when the Nix came calling), these three are all at least 26 years old with impressive resumes. Two of them have carried that experience into international football. These are statement signings ahead of what’s expected to be a statement coaching addition. This team has had a tendency to pull their punches in the past but this time it feels like they’re doing everything they can to win.
Curious happening in the NBA... with ex-Breakers guard Mojave King included in a trade between the Indiana Pacers and New Orleans Pelicans. Specifically, the Pacers flipped their #23 pick in the upcoming draft, along with King, to the Pelicans in exchange for their own 2026 first round pick which the Pelicans had earlier gotten a hold of (via the Pascal Siakam trade). Bit funny to be making trades while you’re literally competing in the NBA Finals but fair enough, gotta think of the future.
Mojave King, who was born in Dunedin to an American father and kiwi mother but was raised predominantly in Australia (and has always said he’d like to represent the Boomers if he ever gets the chance), was drafted in the second round of the 2023 draft by the LA Lakers who promptly flipped him to Indiana. King had played for Cairns and Adelaide as a Next Star prior to that and didn’t do anything spectacular, though playing pro as a teenager is already pretty impressive and he still got drafted off the back of that mahi. However, he then did nothing in the G-League, only appearing in 15 games while shooting 38.1% FG and 27.3% 3PT.
It was at this point that the Breakers signed him up for what proved to be the final season of the Matt Walsh Era. King had some flashes of class in there but the shooting was inconsistent and he only averaged 7.6 points per game across the season, along with some subpar defensive efforts. Couple of injuries in there, admittedly, but a -16 Net Rating proved that the Breakers were better when he wasn’t on the floor.
And... now he’s suddenly back in the NBA frame? Yeah nah, probably not. That trade was basically a straight swap between two first round draft picks that’ll each fall in the 20-30 range. One for this year, one for next year. There are all sorts of reasons why that might be the case (the main one being that Indiana already has a young team and needs to save money for extensions)... bottom line is that Mojave King was probably just a sneaky throw-in, like an extra curry roll with your fish and chips.
Best case scenario (and hopefully this is what happens) is that the Pelicans want to test him out at Summer League, since the Pacers had already given up on him. King’s been an iffy NBL player when compared to his potential but there’s talent there... and he’s been awesome for the Tauranga Whai averaging 19 points per game in his five appearances this year.
Speaking of Summer League, the Breakers are expected to have a scouting presence there as they seek to fill out their imports. Former NZB forward Zylan Cheatham recently signed with Adelaide United to complete their roster (a roster that includes Flynn Cameron). The Breakers were quick to nail down their local core but they’ve taken their time with the overseas fellows.
Tacko Fall is technically still on the books but GM Dillon Boucher popped up on The Basketball Fix a couple of days ago during which he repeatedly spoke about recruiting three new imports and then when asked about Fall he said some non-committal stuff about being in talks with his agent and suggesting that clarity will follow in time. In other words, they’re not bringing Tacko Fall back if they can help it. But they are very serious about getting Parker Jackson-Cartwright back and it sounds like that’s a good chance of happening. The plan for the three imports are: a point guard (PJC), a combo-guard, and an athletic power forward.
Here’s a quote from Boucher speaking about recruitment (one of the rare times he’s even alluded to deficiencies in the previous ownership strategy... it’s been a very diplomatic press tour from DB but actions speak louder than words and Boucher and the new owners have made it very clear at every junction that they’re going to be doing things differently and that’s all the proof we need)...
“From our perspective, we’ve tried to get that balance right with guys who have experience. You know, one of the first things that we really wanted to ensure we did was to bring back guys who had experience and understand what it takes to win, what it takes to be a Breaker player. But also bring a level of toughness to the group. One of the things that, from an outside looking in, I looked at Breakers teams of the past and kinda said: what was missing? And I really believe there was a defensive toughness that was missing so I wanted to recruit some really tough defensive players that are uncompromising and come into any game ready to take on any assignment you give them and take it head on.”
Boucher also talked up Carlin Davison as having the potential to be one of the best defensive players in the competition in the future. Coming from somebody who himself was once one of the best defensive players in the NBL, that’s some hefty praise... and extra exciting for those of us who’ve been watching Davison do crazy things for Taranaki in the NBL, adding a decent three-point shot to his array of tricks and producing some scintillating passing highlights.
Carlin Davison in the NZ NBL (Per Game Averages)
2022 – 27.1 MIN | 8.5 PTS | 44% FG | 24% 3PT | 4.3 REB | 2.2 AST | 1.3 STL
2023 – 27.5 MIN | 11.2 PTS | 54% FG | 15% 3PT | 7.0 REB | 3.0 AST | 2.3 STL
2024 – 28.5 MIN | 16.9 PTS | 52% FG | 29% 3PT | 7.8 REB | 3.3 AST | 1.3 STL
2025 – 34.1 MIN | 19.4 PTS | 48% FG | 34% 3PT | 7.8 REB | 5.8 AST | 2.2 STL
That’s prior to yesterday’s game where he was kept quiet with 9p/4r/3a in a loss against a resurgent Nelson Giants side. Even in a game like that though, you can see the potential. Aaaand you can also see where he needs to improve because those scintillating passes often don’t hit the mark and he can get a bit too emotional towards the refs at times. Boucher referenced that by acknowledging that he’s far from the finished product right now with plenty left to learn... but that he doesn’t want to iron out the unpredictability that makes him special. It’s like every time Boucher speaks, he says the right things and he says them with transparent honesty. Such a beautiful contrast after what we got served with under the previous administration.
Kate Sheppard Cup Quarter Final Draw
Franklin United vs Eastern Suburbs
Auckland United vs West Coast Rangers
Waterside Karori vs Wellington Phoenix U20s
Cashmere Technical vs Otago University
Chatham Cup Fourth Round Draw
Manukau United vs Eastern Suburbs
Fencibles United vs Western Springs
Birkenhead United vs Waiheke United
Auckland United vs Melville United
Napier City Rovers vs Wellington Olympic
Western Suburbs vs Palmerston North United
Wānaka AFC vs Christchurch United
Dunedin City Royals vs Nelson Suburbs
Games to be played on weekend of 5-6 July
Musical Jam...