Party of Abundance

Joey Manu magnificence, Kate Sheppard & Chatham Cup roundups, the return of Leigh Kasperek, NBL/Tauihi standouts, Tall Ferns Asia Cup squad & more

The Niche Cache

Jun 19, 2023

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Reading Menu

All Whites vs Sweden: Living Through The Learning Curve (Football)
Aotearoa Warriors Diary: Style and Depth Update (Rugby League)
2023 NRLWahine: Five Funkiest Players From Aotearoa (Rugby League)
Kiwi-NRL Spotlight: Eelin' With Daejarn Asi (Rugby League)
Getting Up To Date With NZ Breakers Offseason Activities Ahead Of NBL24 (Basketball)
The Breakers Struck The Ideal NBL Next Star Balance With Rayan Rupert (Basketball)
2023 Kiwi County Tour: Henry Shipley & Tom Latham Appear (Cricket)
27fm Weekly Playlist: June 19 (Music)

Scotty’s Word

Joseph Manu returned to fullback for Roosters in their win over Knights and like James Tedesco did a few weeks ago in a win over Bulldogs, the Roosters fullback dragged his team to victory. Manu finished with 29 runs - 318m @ 10.96m/run, 7 tackle busts and 6 offload. Slightly less impressive than Manu's statline for Aotearoa Kiwis vs Tonga last year:

32 runs - 401m @ 12.53m/run, 7 tackle busts, 2 offloads.

Fullback is Manu's best position, but he won't play there ahead of Tedesco. Roosters coach Trent Robinson had Manu in the halves prior to filling in for Tedesco and while Manu can do a job there, his running ability overwhelms the passing required to breakdown NRL defences.

With Tedesco at fullback for Roosters, I reckon Manu is best suited to a free-roaming centre role. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad is also in fabulous form at fullback for NZ Warriors and has played centre for Aotearoa when Manu is playing fullback. Manu is still likely to hold down that fullback spot for Aotearoa and this was a timely reminder of his ability.

Joseph Manu NRL results by position...

Fullback: 9-3
Wing: 7-6
Centre: 77-36
Five-Eighth: 5-5

Manu is 4-1 when playing fullback for Aotearoa Kiwis.

Roosters may be without Luke Keary and Sam Walker, which would increase the need for Manu to play in the halves. Perhaps Tedesco is dusty after State of Origin and Manu can plug that hole. I'm curious to see how Manu fits into winning Roosters footy as the halves experiment didn't work, although Roosters are in a tricky position with injuries etc.

Naufahu Whyte (Bay Roskill) returned to the Roosters team, playing his first game since round eight. Whyte started in the middle and played a season-high 51 minutes, with 15 runs - 176m @ 11.7m/run and 28 tackles @ 87.5%.

The Andrew Webster > Cameron Ciraldo idea continues to develop. Under coach Webster, NZ Warriors are better than Bulldogs so far this season...

NZ Warriors: 6th, 8-6 (+34)
Bulldogs: 16th, 5-10 (-154)

Last night's loss vs Sharks reinforced a intriguing development thread for Bulldogs and coach Ciraldo. During the loss, Ciraldo shifted various players around and Pikiao's Hayze Perham was moved from fullback to centre with Jake Averillo taking the fulback role. Wellington's Karl Oloapu (Randwick) made his debut off the bench earlier this season and he would be injected as a half which means changing the halves combination during games.

Oloapu has started a few games now and coach Ciraldo keeps on tinkering. Khaled Rajab now comes off the bench to play in the halves with Oloapu moving into a middle forward slot. None of this tinkering helps Bulldogs settle into a footy flow and even when Matt Burton is playing, Bulldogs rely too heavily on him.

Bulldogs are also 16th for post contact metres and linebreaks. Coach Ciraldo was a defence coach in his assistant role with Panthers and Bulldogs are 2nd for missed tackles with the worst points differential in the NRL. Bulldogs are also the only team to concede 400+ points this season.

Coach Webster has defeated Ciraldo twice already this season. Warriors are a far better attacking team than Bulldogs and they have consistently shown more grit in defence. Now I'm pondering how Webster is doing a far better job of developing young talent and building competitive depth. Bulldogs don't seem to have a development plan for local juniors and instead may be shopping lads like Paul Alamoti and Averillo around, while they chase big-money recruits.

Ciraldo was the trendy coaching hire prior to the season. Many folks saw Phil Gould's move from Warriors to Bulldogs as a niggly loss as well. There was lots of hype around Bulldogs recruits and their youngsters. NZ Warriors have out-performed Bulldogs in all aspects and halfway through this season, Webster is better than Ciraldo.

There was a wee ray of hope for Black Sticks hockey this weekend as the women enjoyed a 2-1 win over Argentina. Just a wee ray though as the rest of this weekend's FIH Pro League results are aligned with the ongoing demise of kiwi hockey...

Men vs Argentina: 1-6
Women vs Argentina: 2-1
Women vs Belgium: 0-7
Men vs Belgium: 1-3

Four goals scored, 17 goals conceded. BSM are still last (9th) with a 0-1-9 record and BSW are 8th with a 1-2-7 record. BSW are a point ahead of USA and both teams have played 10 games. BSM play again Tuesday morning against Argentina and BSW play Argentina on Wednesday morning.

Leigh Kasperek is back in the White Ferns squad to tour Sri Lanka, replacing Jess Kerr who is out injured. J-Kerr was the best ODI bowler in the tour of West Indies last year (5w @ 11.6avg/3.6rpo) and only played two T20I games but snared 3w @ 6avg/3rpo. That's relevant because West Indies and Sri Lanka share similar conditions. J-Kerr was the best WF seamer of that tour.

Now WF add Kasperek to their spin group and as noted in the Friday dispatch, WF spinners are better than their seamers. Kasperek's WF stats fit right in...

Leigh Kasperek

ODI: 19.43avg/3.98rpo
T20I: 14.13avg/6.29rpo

Amelia Kerr

ODI: 28.46avg/4.45rpo
T20I: 21.43avg/5.81rpo

Eden Carson

ODI: 10.33avg/3.87rpo
T20I: 11.64avg/5.5rpo

Fran Jonas

ODI: 44.5avg/4.62rpo
T20I: 16.28avg/4.57rpo

We have lots of White Ferns content for you to catch up on…

Below are Blackcaps ODI bowling stats in India. Tim Southee and Mitchell Santner are the only Blackcaps World Cup contenders who have 10+ games of bowling in India. These stats mainly come from games against India and they are unlikely to be as bad against other teams in India...

Tim Southee: 29.6avg/5.4rpo
Trent Boult: 36.8avg/5.2rpo
Mitchell Santner: 51.4avg/4.6rpo
Jimmy Neesham: 42avg/6.2rpo
Ish Sodhi: 38avg/6.2rpo
Blair Tickner: 41avg/6.8rpo
Matt Henry: 35.6avg/5.5rpo
Adam Milne: 49avg/5.4rpo
Henry Shipley: 34.3avg/7.3rpo
Lockie Ferguson: 151avg/6rpo

Musical jam...

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Wildcard’s Notebook

There was an article on the NBL website (Australian version) about the influx of players from Aotearoa and how the Breakers can no longer contain all the talent at one club. Lovely sentiment albeit at least two years behind on the idea... plus it wasn’t helped by there being like six different kiwi players with their names spelled wrong lol. I just wrote about the Breakers offseason stuff last week and it’s a developing storyline that the Perth Wildcats currently have more NZ players (and coaches) under contract that NZB do.

That’s fine. As the NBL thing told us there’s kiwi talent spread all across the league so if the Breakers don’t want to be the dominant party of abundance then these guys are still getting good opportunities elsewhere. In fact the top emerging NZ rookies already tend to look towards Australian clubs rather than than the Breakers if we’re being honest about it. Including this very season with Flynn Cameron (Melbourne United), Sam Mennenga (Cairns Taipans), and Dontae Russo-Nance (Perth Wildcats) all getting their first pro deals while the Breakers focused on finding a Lithuanian Next Star.

Again, no dramas. There’s room for everyone. But if the Breakers, or any Aussie NBL club, wants to fill out their rosters with another lad from New Zealand then there’s plenty more ballers to go around. Tell ya what, here’s one from each of the NZ NBL teams worth having a geeze at...

Kruz Perrott-Hunt (SG) – Auckland Tuatara
Kaia Isaac (PG/SG) - Canterbury Rams
Matt Freeman (SF/PF) - Franklin Bulls
Sam Timmins (C) - Otago Nuggets
Tohi Smith-Milner (PF/C) - Wellington Saints
Callum McRae (C) – Nelson Giants
Brayden Inger (PF) – Southland Sharks
Derone Raukawa (PG) – Hawke’s Bay Hawks
Josh Leger (PF/C) – Manawatu Jets
Carlin Davison (PF) - Taranaki Airs

I started writing out explainers/mini bios for the lads there but it was taking up too many words so I think I’ll expand this into a full article instead, look for that one probably on Wednesday. Thing is, for most teams we could chuck in at least one if not two more legitimate prospects as well. Happy days.

It’s also very much worth checking out how the Tauihi signings are going. Mainland Pouakai went hard from day one of free agency while the defending champion Tokomanawa Queens have also been quick off the mark with theirs. More recently we’ve seen last year’s beaten finalists Northern Kahu going strong to restock their squad too. Southern Hoiho have added a couple key players. All except the Whai, we’re still waiting on them to announce something. Here’s what we’ve got so far...

Northern Kahu: Tahlia Tupaea, Krystal Leger-Walker, Tera Reed

(Mid-North) Whai: ...

Tokomanawa Queens: Florencia Chagas (I), Tegan Graham, Stella Beck, Lilly Taulelei, Parris Mason, Eve Langton, Levata Kenny, Naomi Sopoaga, Te Araroa Sopoaga, Tia Remuera,

Mainland Pouakai: Lauryn Hippolyte, Esra McGoldrick, Sharne Robati, Tsubasa Nisbet, Natasha Mack (I), Kiara Leslie (I)

Southern Hoiho: Zoe Richards, Samara Gallaher

You’ll also note several players from that lot repeated in this: the Tall Ferns squad of 12 players for the Asia Cup that’s about to tip off...

Stella Beck, Tayla Dalton, Penina Davidson, Grace Hunter, Charlisse Leger-Walker, Krystal Leger-Walker, Parris Mason, Esra McGoldrick, Tera Reed, Ritorya Tamilo, Josie Trousell & Tahlia Tupaea

There are a few changes from the European tour there. Tahlia Tupaea was always coming in as soon as she was healthy to do so, and she’s joined by Mason, McGoldrick, and Trousdell while missing out after going on tour are: Kendall Heremaia, Ash Kelman-Poto, Ash Taia, and Lilly Taulelei.

Great to have the experience of Trousdell back in for a squad that’s quite youthful. Needed some of that. McGoldrick’s also a welcome addition while it’ll be funky to finally see Tahlia Tupaea in a black jersey after switching allegiances from Australia where she’d played at youth level. 17 year old Ritorya Tamilo is the bolter in the team even if she was part of the Euro tour. Parris Mason is also uncapped along with Tupaea.

Domestic Football Roundup

There was one Northern League game during the midweek in which Auckland City caught up on one of their Champions League postponements. That was against Manukau United, who had teenaged goalie Xander Hart between the sticks having come across from North Shore United. This was his second start for MUFC and, well, he never really had a chance to be fair. Ryan De Vries scored three and Gerard Garriga bagged two in a 5-0 ACFC victory. RDV is really cooking at the moment. Auckland City thus keep pace with Eastern Suburbs sitting six points behind with two games in hand. They’ve got another midweek catch-up next Wednesday (28 June) against Manurewa.

Other than that... it was a cup weekend, baby! Chatham Cup and Kate Sheppard Cup. The KSC goes first because it’s deeper into the competition and we had one massive game here with Western Springs beating Auckland United 3-0. That’s the defending champs bounced out in the last sixteen. Goals for Liz Savage, Lily Jervis, plus an own goal (nice to have Liz Savage back on the scene btw).

Western Springs had that board drama a few weeks ago, which thankfully has led to a relatively happy conclusion after an engaged mediation process (proof will be in the pudding of course but for now it’s pleasing to see everyone working together to improve things). Sneaky factor around that is how Springs have been unstoppable ever since those initial headlines. They’ve won 3-0 vs Hibiscus Coast, 12-0 vs Lakes FC (KSC), 6-0 vs Northern Rovers, and now 3-0 vs Auckland Utd (KSC). Imagine what they’ll be like when the club raises its investments lol.

Auckland United have stocked up heaps this year with all those Northern Rovers players but I guess we’ve just learned that combining the third and fourth best NRFL teams doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll overtake the second best team. Utd are still well in the title race in the Women’s Prem (though WSAFC are zooming up the table too) so they’ll be alright... but we’re getting a new Kate Sheppard Cup champion this year.

Only two KSC games were decided by single-goal margins. Fencibles edged out Otumoetai 3-2 while Petone beat Palmerston North Marist 2-1 away. Lots of National League players in the latter although pretty sure PNM have lost a few of their better youngsters to the Wellington Phoenix Academy. Libby Boobyer scored a brace for Petone there. Elsewhere we’re looking at comfortable wins for all the favourites with the two big ones being 6-0 wins for Ellerslie (against Manukau Utd) and Coastal Spirit (against Nelson Suburbs).

Our eight Kate Sheppard Cup quarter-finalists for 2023: Dunedin City Royals, Fencibles United, Wellington United, Petone, Coastal Spirit, Eastern Suburbs, Ellerslie & Western Springs. (Fencibles are the only team left from outside the three top divisions).

Over to the Chatham Cup and there wasn’t much hope for Bucklands Beach having been drawn up against Auckland City from two divisions away. Needless to say it was a 9-0 ACFC victory with Ryan De Vries scoring another hat-trick (told ya he was cooking). But there was a wheelchair streaker so that’s a new one. Napier City Rovers also had good fun beating Stop Out 8-2 in another high scorer.

South Auckland Rangers were the lowest ranked team still in the competition but that’s no longer true after they were dropped 4-0 by Western Springs. There are still a couple teams left from outside the three big leagues though. Ngaruawahia beat Onehunga-Mangere 4-1 to stay in the hat while Fencibles did the same against West Auckland. Both are NRFL Championship teams – aka the tier below Northern League. Tauranga vs Eastern Suburbs was postponed so there’s a chance that Tauranga join them. Birkenhead needed extra time for a 3-1 win over Franklin United who are two tiers below them.

The last four teams from the Central Region are all top flighters. Petone dispatched of the final remaining lower team FC Western. Wellington Olympic were 2-1 down with quarter of an hour to go against North Wellington but rallied back to win 3-2. However Waterside Karori did nudge a slight upset to beat Western Suburbs 1-0 after extra time thanks to a 110^th minute William Forrest goal.

Also credit to Ferrymead Bays for taking Christchurch United to extra time but eventually Matt Todd-Smith did win it for the Rams. Cashmere Tech didn’t leave it quite as late with an 82^nd minute winner for Garbhan Coughlan when they beat Nelson Subs 1-0.

It feels like round four should be when the league goes nationwide but it ain’t, there’s still one more round where the draw is regionalised before the quarter-finals see anyone drawn against anyone and all the real travel begins. Both the draws for the next rounds are made tomorrow (Tuesday).

The remaining sixteen teams in the hunt for the 100^th Chatham Cup are...

Northern: Melville United, Auckland City, Ngaruawahia*, Western Springs, Hamilton Wanderers, Birkenhead United, Fencibles United* & Tauranga City*/Eastern Suburbs

Central: Waterside Karori, Petone, Wellington Olympic, Napier City Rovers

Southern: Christchurch United, Roslyn-Wakari*, Wanaka*, Cashmere Technical

*below Northern/Central/Southern Leagues

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