No Nonsense
Flying Kiwis transfer tracker, Warriors NRL/NRLW previews, Tall Blacks in WCQs, Blackcaps ODI mode, and more
Scotty’s Word
NZ Warriors have four games in Australia this weekend with a Warriors game on three consecutive days over the Matariki weekend. The three men’s teams are playing against Tigers and their affiliated teams, while the women are playing against Raiders. Here’s how the match ups look...
NRL
Warriors: 2nd | 10-5 | +168
Tigers: 12th | 7-9 | -104
NRLW
Warriors: 3rd | 1-0 | +22
Raiders: 4th | 1-0 | +20
NSW Cup
Warriors: 10th | 7-8 | -50
Magpies: 7th | 7-7 | +117
Jersey Flegg Cup
Warriors: 8th | 7-7 | +112
Tigers: 4th | 8-4-1 | +54
There has been lots of Warriors angst about halves kicking since Tanah Boyd got injured. I reckon Chanel Harris-Tavita’s kicking is underrated and Te Maire Martin has grown in his kicking mahi with every game, showing development in this skill since last season. While it doesn’t tell the full story of their kicking, both Warriors halves have similar kicking distance per game to Adam Douehi and far more than Jarome Luai...
Chanel Harris-Tavita: 255.42
Adam Douehi: 253.14
Te Maire Martin: 250.3
Jarome Luai: 141.13
Depending on how active Mitchell Barnett and Kurt Capewell are returning from Aussie duties, this could be another funky game for the undercover brothers in Tanner Stowers-Smith and Eddie Ieremia-Toeava. Both averaged 30+ minutes in their first NRL seasons and have climbed up to around 40 minutes per game this season.
Stowers-Smith’s running oomph and defensive efforts have been easy to spot this season, especially in recent weeks with James Fisher-Harris out injured. Ieremia-Toeava had a nifty moment at centre for Dolphins and yet he is still one of the least known Warriors at the NRL tier. 40mins per game for Ieremia-Toeava sums up his pedigree as a junior and how coach Andrew Webster views his no nonsense mahi as a youngster who can play middle, edge and centre.
One deep cut for the Warriors system is Tyson Hansen sticking in NSW Cup. Lots of players have dropped back down to U21s but not Hansen, who is an 18-year-old from Rotorua. Hansen can play in the halves as well as all forward pack positions and despite Warriors adding Riley Price to their NSW Cup group, Hansen has kept his bench spot. Hansen’s minutes in NSW Cup: 15, 38, 44, 50.
Warriors women are having their depth challenged once again and yet I reckon they can win in Canberra. Their depth was ravaged last season and they held steady thanks to the quality of talent stepping up from grassroots footy, now they are in a similar pocket to what the men have experienced in the last few rounds.
Five top-tier players are out injured (Payton Takimoana, Mele Hufanga, Laishon Albert-Jones, Kaiyah Atai, Matekino Gray) and Mya Hill-Moana is suspended. They also have Tyra Wetere out for the season and Anastasia Sekene is another depth player out injured at the moment.
Warriors are boosted by the return of Ivana Lauitiiti though. She is 19-years-old and I’ve come around to viewing her as one of the best youngsters at Mt Smart, man or woman. Lauitiiti made her NRLW debut as an 18-year-old last season, going from premier women’s footy in Auckland with Otahuhu to NRLW and Kiwi Ferns.
In her first season, Lauitiiti scored two tries and averaged 5.3 tackle breaks per game. She also averaged an offload per game and 105m, tackling at 92%. This makes her one of the best young players in NRLW and while I love how players like Stowers-Smith, Ieremia-Toeava, Jacob Laban are doing the hard mahi, Lauitiiti’s only rival for crazy footy talent at Mt Smart is Leka Halasima.
Titans have made some NRLWahine waves this week for their game vs Bulldogs with Fanua Rimoni named at prop and Aleksandra Tunufai on the extended bench. Rimoni is an 18-year-old Wainuiomata junior who made her Farah Palmer Cup debut for Wellington in 2024 when she was 16/17yrs.
Then she moved over to Brisbane to played in the Women’s Premiership for Norths Devil and she played 12 games last season, before adding another game to start this season. Rimoni caught the attention of Titans and she was named in the round one squad but didn’t play, now she is named in the starting team.
Titans also picked up Tunufai after she impressed with Easts Brisbane in the Women’s Premiership. Tunufai is from Howick College and had a stint with Sea Eagles before settling in Queensland. She officially joined Titans last week and has scored 10 tries in 14 games of Women’s Premiership, mainly at centre.
Along with Georgia Hale, Sarina Masaga has been a regular for Titans in NRLW. Masaga also went to Howick College before moving to Queensland and like Tunufai, they were both excellent netball players. This offers a glorious snapshot of how NRLW is shaking up old school New Zealand sports as most emerging NRLWahine played rugby union or netball before chasing NRLW opportunities.
Emerging South Island Kiwi-NRL Team…
Fullback: Jackson Stewart (Hornby)
Wing: Mason Lome-Hindle (Otago Boys High School), Victory Isaako (Eastern)
Centre: Antonio Verhoeven (Cobden Kohinoor), Oliver Lawry (Halswell)
Half: Bronson Reuben (Kaiapoi), Harry Inch (Nelson College)
Middle: Tanner Stowers-Smith (Halswell), Felix Fa’atili (Hornby), Jason Salalilo (Papanui)
Edge: Sosaia Alatini (Hornby), Bishop Neal (Hornby)
Hooker: Makaia Tafua (Linwood)
Bench: Amasio Tiatia (Linwood), K-Ci Newton-Whare (Riccarton) Te Kaio Cranwell (Linwood), Isaiah Savea (Hornby)
Backs depth: Meihana Pauling (Halswell), Montel Lisala (Halswell), Chelden Hayward (Linwood), Dakota Kakoi (Linwood)
Forward depth: Tom Perkins (Nelson College), Saumaki Saumaki (Nelson College), Xavier Lynch (Halswell)
For paid subscribers
More NZ Warriors stats and notes
Spotlights on Mary-Jane Taito (Bulldogs - 18yrs playing NRLW) & Charleston Te Rore (Roosters - 17yrs playing NSW Cup)
ODI spotlights on Nathan Smith and Will O’Rourke
How a selection of emerging Blackcaps have gone under coach Rob Walter
White Ferns team made up of those who didn’t play at T20 World Cup
White Ferns depth chart
Domestic cricket deep cuts
Folks around the cricketing world have caught up to the seam bowling depth cooking in Aotearoa but Jacob Duffy wasn’t part of the buzz. Here’s how Duffy’s bowling averages rank for Blackcaps...
Test: 25w @ 16.28avg/2.3rpo
Lowest average for 20+ wickets
ODI: 35w @ 24.25avg/5.9rpo
Sixth lowest average for 20+ wickets
Fifth lowest average for 30+ wickets
T20I: 62w @ 20.25avg/8rpo
Fourth lowest average for 20+ wickets
Second lowest average for 50+ wickets
Mark Chapman shouldn’t be overlooked either…
Last three years of ODI batting
2023: 18.6avg/115sr
2024: 39avg/91sr
2025: 73.6avg/107sr
Last three years of T20I batting
2024: 19.9avg/132sr
2025: 21.6avg/159sr
2026: 20.4avg/141sr
Highest Blackcaps ODI batting strike-rates for 100+ runs since start of 2023
Michael Bracewell: 692 runs @ 108.8sr
Mitchell Santner: 523 runs @ 108.73sr
Rachin Ravindra: 1,424 runs @ 107.55sr
Mark Chapman: 670 runs @ 107.2sr
Glenn Phillips: 1,105 runs @ 104.24sr
Musical jam...
Nick’s Notebook
The Tall Blacks wrapped up the first round of World Cup qualifying by beating the Philippines and Guam. Double OT thriller against the Philippines and then a much more routine victory vs Guam, both in Auckland over the weekend. They also won away against both those teams last window and lost home and away to Australia in the first window.
The second round sees the twelve remaining teams lumped together in two groups with the top four from each making it through to the World Cup (unless hosts Qatar don’t finish top four in the other group, then the worst record of the two fourth-placed teams misses out). Results from the first round carry over so New Zealand already have a 4-2 record with two matches to follow against each of Iran, Jordan, and Syria. Not home and away this time though, the games are being played in hubs with the first lot in the Philippines in late August.
Tall Blacks in Round 1 of Asia/Oceania WCQs:
Lost 84-79 to Australia (A)
Lost 79-77 to Australia (H)
Won 69-66 vs Philippines (A)
Won 99-66 vs Guam (A)
Won 106-102 (2OT) vs Philippines (H)
Won 129-75 vs Guam (H)
Coach Judd Flavell used 23 players across those six games with only Taylor Britt and Taine Murray featuring in all six...
Six Games: Taylor Britt, Taine Murray
Five Games: Sam Mennenga, Carlin Davison, Tohi Smith-Milner
Four Games: Jordan Ngatai, Reuben Te Rangi
Three Games: Tyrell Harrison, Yanni Wetzell, Keanu Rasmussen, Sam Timmins
Two Games: Mojave King, Izayah Le’Afa, Sam Waardenburg, Flynn Cameron, Finn Delany, Tai Webster, Shea Ili, Max Darling, Alex McNaught, Jackson Ball
One Game: Jack Andrew, Kruz Perrott-Hunt
Something to track in the Blackcaps upcoming ODI series in West Indies...
The Race to 3000 ODI Runs
World Record: Hashim Amla, 57 innings
Second place: Shubman Gill, 62 innings
Third Place: Shai Hope, Fakhar Zama & Imam-ul-Haq, 67 innings
Daryl Mitchell – 2690 runs from 54 innings (58.47 avg)
It’s a five-game series, starting on Sunday, so that’s 310 runs required in two innings to break the record, three to tie it, or way more likely a maximum of seven innings to beat Shubman Gill’s recently acquired second place on this list.
For the Paid Subscribers:
Jayden Cecil’s kiwi identity
Joaquin Reinoso the Argentina-Aotearoa football prospect
Chris Wood (and maybe Tyler Bindon) gets a new club coach
I didn’t do a Flying Kiwis yarn this week because there wasn’t enough stuff happening to fill one out. The top line transfers aren’t happening this soon after the World Cup and most clubs are out of action. There are the lads in Ireland and lower-tiered America but nobody did anything this week (and the Irish scene has been dormant for months tbh). There was a good win for Rebecca Lake’s Thai Nguyen T&T in Vietnam but she only played off the bench, given a rest against one of the weaker teams. The Swedish men’s league returned which saw Owen Parker-Price get ninety in a 3-0 loss to Kalmar while Kees Sims was on the bench for GAIS as they drew 1-1 away to IFB.
So I parked it. Next week should be more fruitful with preseason games beginning for most European clubs as well as League Cup action in Scotland and the resumption of the Norwegian league (Viking may choose to rest Joe Bell for the first week or two, we shall see... but he’s back in town so he’s probably good to go).
But what we do have is transfers and while I’ve already done an audio yarn for the Paid Subscribers breaking down a few of these things, it’s time to bring back an old favourite segment...
Flying Kiwis Transfer Tracker
You never quite know what the situation is when a player is released by a club. After Hannah Blake was let go by Durham last week, that could have been the English club saying ka kite after two years where she hadn’t been able to sustain a consistent first eleven spot. She’d finished last season strongly but that was with an interim coach and Durham have since hired Willie Kirk to be their new boss (a controversial decision to say the least). As it turns out, Blake left because she had a much better offer on the table. Kia ora to Rangers Football Club. One year since Vic Esson left and they realised they couldn’t go any longer without a New Zealander in their squad, a wise course of action.
While Esson was with Rangers, she won multiple cup titles but could never get over the line in the SWPL. Wasn’t any different last season as Rangers finished two points behind Hearts, settling for second place... but with it the consolation prize of Champions League entry. So Blake’s got that to look forward to. This will be a very different dynamic for her following two seasons in the English second tier with a club that was losing more than they were winning. Rangers tend to tally up some pretty massive victory margins given the disparity between the best and worst teams in Scotland and Blake, as an attacking player who is at her best when she’s part of a flowing team rather than being expected to bring out the solo magic, could really thrive playing more front-foot footy. We’ve been waiting to see which Football Ferns would make ambitious moves one year out from the World Cup... this is a fantastic way to get that started.
Also in that category is Suya Haering making the move from relegated German club Carl Zeiss Jena to France where she’s signed for Montpellier. Another club who’ll be battling relegation but one that won’t be getting thrashed to nil like CZJ and her previous club Turbine Potsdam were often doing. Nice progressive move from the 21yo left-fullback... hoping to see her nail down a regular starting spot this season.
This of course follows two years of having Kate Taylor in the French top flight with Dijon... but that team’s gone broke and had their licence revoked so all signs point towards Taylor, quite possibly the first name on any Football Ferns teamsheet these days, being on the move. She’s good enough that no destination is out of the question so just gotta wait and see.
Katie Bowen is another one on the move. Inter Milan let her walk after another second-placed finish in Serie A but there’s chat that she could stay in Italy because apparently Lazio like the look of her. From Milan to Rome if that comes to pass. Lazio’s are an upper-midtable trying to close the gap to the teams above them. From their perspective, Bowen is an experienced player at international and now Serie A level who has been part of an Internazionale squad that made that exact rise a couple years ago.
And keep an eye out for what Indiah-Paige Riley does after being released/freed by Crystal Palace following a season spent wasted on their bench because they only wanted to play her at right-back. Another hugely important Ferns player seeking form ahead of the World Cup.
There’s a fascinating situation in South Africa where Orlando Pirates, not content with having signed Andre de Jong from Stellenbosch, have also been trying to coax young kiwi goalkeeper Dublin Boon in the same direction. Pirates scout Brendon Fourie used to be the head of recruitment at Stellies and he signed both ADJ and Boon in that capacity. But Stellies have just lost a couple of their backup keepers and really like Boon’s potential, in fact there’s a chance he could be their second choice keeper next season. What’s more, he apparently has some South African heritage and one of the articles claimed they rate him as a potential Bafana Bafana keeper of the future. Bloody hell.
Pirates had been negotiating a swap move but that fell apart in recent days when their own attacking midfielder Kabelo Dlamini decided he didn’t want any part of that. Pity because clearing out another CAM would also suit Andre de Jong sweetly. So the price will have to be raised to get that over the line but either way it sounds like Stellies are closing in on a deal for Nathan Garrow of Auckland City, who impressed at the Club World Cup and has been impeccable for ACFC in domestic duties since. Notably, Garrow’s been absent from recent City squads with Matthew Foord taking his place after the former Cashmere Tech, Wellington Phoenix Reserves, and Bula FC gloveman was poached post-OPL.
These are good rumours. Love it when there are good rumours. There’s also really high potential of moves for some of our very top All Whites following on from the World Cup. Tim Payne to Club Olimpia and Jesse Randall to Dundee United are already done. Elijah Just, Finn Surman, Callum McCowatt, and Sarpreet Singh (in that order) should also be eyeing up something tasty. Alex Paulsen and Tyler Bindon are on loan watch.
Nik Tzanev has signed an extension at Huddersfield Town as well. One year with a club option for a second. When he first joined the club in January to be the third choice keeper, insurance for what they hoped would be a playoff run (they didn’t make it), it was only for the remainder of that campaign. He ended up making two unexpected appearances as the two blokes ahead of him both got injured and then when the Retained/Released list was revealed afterwards it was claimed that Tzanev was in discussions over an extended stay.
Sticking around as a third-choice keeper in League One as a 29-year-old would stink of a lack of ambition... except that on the same day as this deal was announced, it was also announced that Lee Nicholls would be joining Championship side Preston North End for an undisclosed fee and that Aussie keeper Jacob Chapman has also been sold, in his case to St Mirren up in Scotland. Jak Alwnick remains around while Huddersfield have also picked up 19yo Sunderland prospect Matty Young on loan, an England youth international who has played 64 League Two games on loan at Salford City over the previous two years and apparently that kid is tremendous. So lots of changes in that Terriers goalkeeping department.
Lee Nicholls had been the main keeper for the previous five seasons and now the three competing keepers (assuming there’s no more business) have a mere seven club appearances combined, as two January signings and a 19yo loanee compete for the number one status. Jacob Chapman was out on loan with Crawley Town last season but he did play quite a bit for Huddersfield the season prior, yet he specifically said that he left because he wanted a better shot at getting regular footy. Obviously they’d given up on him. Fingers crossed Tzanev can lodge an application for starter’s duty during preseason, you never know, although the signs point towards Matty Young being The Guy with Alnwick and Tzanev on board as experienced alternatives. Not hard to read between the lines when the comments in his extension announcement refer to “the goalkeeping department” and “strength and depth”.
And here’s one more... after Owen Parker-Price’s rather stunning rise up the ranks in Sweden, his Örgryte team have been kinda crap since being promoted and currently sit last with only one win from eleven games. That one win came in week two away to the defending Swedish champs Mjällby and hey guess which club is suddenly rumoured to want to sign him? OPP is contracted for another 18 months and ÖIS are huge fans of his abilities so there’s no reason to get ahead of ourselves. But Mjällby do have Champions League qualifiers coming up in a few weeks. Imagine if he went from a club on track for relegation from the third tier to playing Champions League in the space of twelve months.
Musical Jam...
