Perpetual Cycles
Auckland FC's first signings, The Alex Paulsen rumours begin, Blackcaps T20 WC notes, Kiwi-NRL Eels, Breakers possibilities & more
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The Breakers Are No Longer Coached By Mody Maor (Basketball)
Previewing The Tall Blacks’ 2024 Olympic Qualifying Campaign (Basketball)
Recapping The Tall Ferns Efforts At The 2024 Olympic Qualifiers (Basketball)
Answering The Big Questions About Steven Adams Getting Traded To The Houston Rockets (Basketball)
Breaking Down The Blackcaps 2024 T20 World Cup Squad (Cricket)
2024 T20 World Cup: New Zealand Blackcaps Basics & Notebook (Cricket)
What Comes Next For The Wellington Phoenix Blokes After Their Best Ever A-League Season? (Football)
Flying Kiwis – May 28 (Football)
Kiwi-NRL Spotlight: Naufahu Whyte Continues To Flourish (Rugby League)
Kiwi-NRL Spotlight: The Return Of Moala Graham-Taufa (Rugby League)
Kiwi-NRL Spotlight: Keano Kini Loves The Mahi (Rugby League)
Aotearoa Warriors Diary: Taking Stock Of A Golden Start To Winter (Rugby League)
27fm Weekly Playlist: May 31 (Music)
Scotty’s Word
Interesting few weeks coming up for Blackcaps and White Ferns. Blackcaps have the T20 World Cup and as we touched on yesterday in our Subscriber Pod, none of the overseas cricketing folk are chatting up Aotearoa as a T20 World Cup contender.
NZ suffered a dip in the last WTC cycle and lost their streak of consecutive ODI World Cup finals last year. Winning this T20WC is possible and another semi-final is the benchmark.
White Ferns aren't as good. Last summer sucked as the reality of White Ferns having no home advantage sunk in. Next up is a tour of England starting late in June and as always, I'm trying to switch into an open mind ahead of this tour. Football Ferns should be viewed as underdogs for most games they play so keep that in mind as media folks are quick to panic about a team who is primarily playing against higher ranked teams. Blackcaps maintain underdog status which is why their semi-final run is awesome and I've had a White Ferns freshen up, as they are certified underdogs heading to England.
Two things to set these excursions up. There will be lots of strike-rate chat for the T20WC and here are all the T20I strike-rates for Blackcaps, all of which are rather healthy. Maintaining a batting strike-rate over 130 at this level is lovely and Kane Williamson adapts to the situation so don't worry about his lower rate. Sub-20 bowling strike-rates is the benchmark and all the main bowlers dip below that...
(Batting | Bowling)
Finn Allen: 163.6
Devon Conway: 129
Rachin Ravindra: 133.7 | 20.1
Kane Williamson: 123.6
Daryl Mitchell: 138.6
Glenn Phillips: 143.2 | 43.5
Mark Chapman: 133.1
Jimmy Neesham: 155.6 | 18
Michael Bracewell: 125.5 | 13.4
Mitchell Santner: 122.1 | 18.6
Ish Sodhi: 104.1 | 17.3
Matt Henry: 120 | 18.3
Tim Southee: 139.6 | 17
Lockie Ferguson: 87 | 15
Trent Boult: 90.5 | 17.4
And some White Ferns results stuff...
2022 Onwards
ODI: 15 wins - 12 losses
T20I: 17-13
2023 Onwards
ODI: 5-6
T20I: 7-10
In England
ODI: 31-26
T20I: 16-14
In England since 2015
ODI: 5-9
T20I: 6-7
Big win for Eels in the NRL against Sharks. Eels have lots of Kiwi-NRL lads and the coaching situation has amplified my intrigue about all things Eels. Compared to NZ Warriors, the Eels pipeline kinda stinks ... just had to add that in. Northland's Wiremu Greig played his second game of the season after playing in round five and he wasn't getting much footy under the old coach Brad Arthur, then he stepped up with 10 runs - 108m @ 10.8m/run, 13 tackles @ 92.8% vs Sharks.
Greig earned Aotearoa Kiwis squad selection last year by playing 16 games. Naufahu Whyte and Keano Kini enjoyed development bumps from Kiwis squad nods last year, but Greig has had a slower build this season.
New Plymouth's Makahesi Makatoa also stepped up, playing 39mins with 13 runs - 128m @ 9.8m/run, 21 tackles @ 87%. Makatoa has played five games this season and this was his first with 30+ minutes.
Eels also had Bailey Simonsson (Tauranga) and Kelma Tuilagi (Glenora) in their team, but Dylan Brown is the funkiest Kiwi-NRL Eel. Whangarei's Brown is still only 23-years-old and he is in his third consecutive season averaging 120+ running metres. It's rare for halves to average 100m/game and Brown eats that up, while also one try assist away from 10+ try assists for the third year in a row.
Brown had five or less try assists in each of his first three years. Then 17, 16 and nine. Most interestingly, Brown averages 171.59 kicking metres/game this season and this is his third (of six) season over 100km/game, his first over 121km/game. No Mitchell Moses bumps that up so it will be interesting to see how Brown's mahi settles with more games alongside Moses.
Sarina Masaga has been added to the Titans NRLW squad on a development contract. Masaga is from Auckland where she went to Howick College before moving to Gold Coast where she played for Burleigh in the Queensland Women's Premiership. Masaga was part of this Maori Under 18s team in 2022 which also featured NRLWahine Amelia Pasikala, Noaria Kapua and Tatiana Finau.
Fun fact: Noaria Kapua apparently has two NRLW contracts. One as Noaria and one as 'Boss'.
NRLWahine in their first season from NZ Rugby:
Stacey Waaka, Pia Tapsell, Grace Kukutai, Isabella Waterman
NRLWahine youngsters in their first campaigns:
Tatiana Finau, Matekino Gray, Sarina Masaga, Trinity Tauaneai, Jessica Patea
Musical jam…
Wildcard’s Notebook
Auckland FC have unveiled their first four signings ahead of entering the A-League Men’s competition next season. There’s been heaps of speculation about this but there didn’t really need to be because this quartet have already been long since reported. Pretty sure we can guess who the next few candidates might be as well. The Herald claims they’ve already got 14 players locked down. AFC themselves reckon there’s “a whole team of players to announce in the coming weeks”. Steve Corica said back in March that nine were on board at that stage. You get the idea. But first a quick squizz at the blokes they’ve announced.
Cam Howieson
Signed from Auckland City where he’s been based for several years, long since establishing himself as one of the premier domestic players in the country with his supreme passing ability, both as a deep-lying settler and as a more advanced midfield creator.
His quality’s clear from the fact that he’s basically the only amateur domestic lad who has been able to earn semi-consistent All Whites call-ups over the past few years (his most recent cap was in 2022 against Australia in Danny Hay’s last tour in charge – Hay is of course an assistant with AFC).
Previously spent time in the UK and Scotland earlier in his career, most notably as a scholar with Burnley.
Francis De Vries
Bit of an unglorious start when AFC spelled his name wrong on the social media announcement but alright. Mistakes do happen.
FDV is a Cantabrian who spent time in the USA college system before joining the Vancouver Whitecaps system. This was at the same time as Stefan Marinovic, Myer Bevan, and Deklan Wynne were all there. But FDV never played for the first team and returned to log a pretty impressive National League season with Canterbury United (RIP).
He then headed over to the Swedish lower leagues. Third tier with Nyköpings, then third tier with IFK Värnamo (where he was paired with Joel Stevens)... until they got promoted. Then they got promoted again. And suddenly, from being a solid fringe professional, Francis De Vries was playing in the top division of Sweden as a starting left back (he’s also played CB and CDM in his time, and only really became a LB specialist with IFK).
That got him into regular All Whites squads... but then he busted his ACL and the train was derailed. He’s been playing for Eastern Suburbs ever since. Underwhelming for his standards during the 2023 National League but he should be able to scale up – having played at the highest level of any of these new signings. Surprised to realise that he’s 29 years old already.
Michael Woud
In contrast, Woud is still only 25 which is relatively young for a goalkeeper. Before there was Alex Paulsen, there was Michael Woud dominating in youth grade World Cups and looking like a boss for years to come. But his club career has yet to catch light as hoped.
Originally joined the Sunderland academy from his hometown in Auckland, then he swapped that for Dutch top division club Willem II where he was a regular in matchday squads and managed to make five appearances in the Eredivisie.
Woud went on loan with second tier club Almere City, which became a permanent deal, and that was where things got frisky. His first season was really good. His second season awful as the team’s performances crumbled.
Thus he made the unusual move to Japan with Kyoto Sanga. That didn’t work out either. Hardly played. Fell down the depth chart. He did somewhat salvage his Japanese stint last year whilst on loan with Ventforet Kofu, a second tier club that had won the national cup a year earlier hence Woud got to make four appearances in the Asian Champions League... including keeping a clean sheet in a 0-0 draw against Melbourne City. But then that deal ran out and when he negotiated a release from Kyoto Sanga it was pretty obvious from that this Auckland FC thing was on the cards.
A lot of kiwi fans remember him for an error-filled performance against Honduras at the Olympics in 2021 while overlooking how safe he was through the rest of the tourney – though it wouldn’t be unfair to say that the occasional blunder does creep into his game from time to time. But he’s also a strong shot-stopper with a big left boot and a stable club situation could do wonders.
Jesse Randall
The only one of the initial quartet who isn’t yet a full international (we’ll see how it goes when the Nations Cup squad is named soon, which is likely to have a little more emphasis on U23s players ahead of the Olympics).
Randall is initially from Wellington though has bounced around quite a bit in his time. Went to the U17 World Cup in 2019. Had impressive National League spots with Tasman United and Hawke’s Bay United.
Also spent a season at Northern Kentucky University while kiwi Stu Riddle was in charge there – same uni that Alex Greive also went to. Randall scored 10 goals in 17 games but left when Riddle left.
He then had an excellent season with Wellington Olympic where he led the entire National League in assists (7 goals and 9 assists in 10 matches), leading to a chance with Charleston Battery in the American USL. But he barely even got a shot there, only making five appearances totalling 111 minutes.
JR’s since been back at Wellington Olympic. Randall is a speedy winger who can operate on either side. Very direct but with an unselfish bend. Decent finishing ability too.
You notice something in common between all of these dudes? They’re all guys whose professional careers haven’t quite had the luck they needed. For various reasons, they’re all searching for stability and opportunity and this is the ideal purpose of a team like Auckland FC. Sure, they could go after bigger names but that doesn’t do much for kiwi footballing depth. If you take existing pros and bring them back, we have the same number of players in the wider All Whites pool. If you boost dudes up from beyond that then you’re adding to the depth pool. Love these signings for that reason. Also, there’s absolutely no doubt that they’re making a point by announcing four locals up front.
Beyond this lot, it’s understood that Callan Elliot and Luis Toomey will soon be amongst it. Aussie/Fijian Dan Hall (Central Coast Mariners) and Aussie Jake Brimmer (Melbourne Victory) have been mentioned as senior blokes to bring some ALM experience to the crew. Joey Champness is available and has been rumoured, supposing that he actually wants to play some football again. Then there are blokes like Marco Rojas and Tommy Smith who signed short-term ALM deals last season which always felt like a hint... though we don’t know that for sure. Damn, maybe even Roy Krishna whose ISL deal ends this week. Then there are younger local prospects like Liam Gillion and Stipe Ukich. We’ll see how many of these names actually eventuate.
Meanwhile, huge rumour brewing last night of a substantial bid from Bournemouth FC for the services of standout Wellington Phoenix goalie Alex Paulsen. Flying Kiwis Transfer Season is almost upon us, folks. Now, let’s get it out of the way with that Bournemouth are at the top of the Bill Foley empire of clubs that now also includes Auckland FC... but don’t worry about him being loaned to a new rival. That doesn’t make much sense, leaving him in the A-League when the whole reason they’re signing him is because he’s too good for the A-League. Hibernians (Scotland) or Lorient (France) might be a different story though.
The yarns is that an £850k initial deal is being discussed with the potential to rise to £2million with add-ons. The NZ Dollar is hanging around a 2:1 conversion rate with the British Pound these days so double those numbers to find the local currency. That’s pretty close to what they sold Liberato Cacace for with the possibility of going way beyond it with those add-ons. Granted, the Cacace figure is disputed.
This is the business model for the Nix: bring these dudes through, develop them, then sell them overseas to fund the club’s ability to repeat this cycle over and over in perpetuity. And what’s amazing is that they continue to be able to it. Sarpreet Singh. Liberato Cacace. Ben Waine. Alex Paulsen will be next. Finn Surman, Ben Old, and Sam Sutton are in line for the next deal. This is going to be a fun offseason.
In other news, Rebecca Lake has signed a fresh one-year deal with the ALW side which brings them up to six players under contract for next season: Mackenzie Barry, Rebecca Lake, Manaia Elliot, Zoe McMeeken, Daisy Brazendale, and Olivia Ingham. The last couple are scholarship players, though those contracts could be upgraded if they play enough (as happened to Elliott).
There was a curious note in the Football Ferns squad announcement where some ALW players were listed as free agents and others were not. Kate Taylor was a free agent... but Michaela Foster was still a Welly Nix player. Even though both of their contracts are expired. So, yeah, a Foz re-signing could be a good bet for the next announcement.
Yesterday I published a piece on the Breakers post-Mody Maor. Which, frankly, is a very concerning vision. Maor’s coaching excellence has not only kept this team performing towards their potential these last couple years but he’s also kind of been the face of the franchise during that time. His influence has been massive. Now he’s gone and the team he leaves behind him only has one New Zealander amongst seven reported signings. That’s Sam Mennenga. Yes, I realise there’s a case to be made for Mojave King as well but as I’ve said before I don’t really count him. Even if you do, that’s still only two NZers with a maximum of two more that they can fit on the roster (unless they can convince the league of a NZ Next Star... but they won’t bother with that).
I realise it’s one thing to say they need more kiwis in the team. It’s another thing to actually identify the blokes worthy of signing. So in the interests of money and mouth, and putting the former where the latter is, here are a few local candidates that I, in my humble and undereducated opinion, would recommend the Breakers take a peek at...
Reuben Te Rangi – Bring back one of the old boys. RTR’s number have dwindled in recent years so this could be a risky one. Depends on the team they put around him. He’s shot under 30% from deep for the last five NBL seasons in a row so that ain’t ideal… however he remains an excellent defender and more important than anything is his Tall Blacks captain level leadership at a time when the Breakers just lost heaps of that with the retirement of Tom Abercrombie.
Tom Vodanovich – Started last season under contract with the Breaks anyway but they released him to sign in the Philippines, saying they’d retain the right of first refusal if he returned before the season was done but they must have refused him because he ended up with Tasmania JackJumpers instead... winning a championship. TV is shooting a spectacular 45% from three-pointers for the Auckland Tuatara but even beyond that he’s a good luck charm: Vodanovich has made NBL Finals in three consecutive years with three different teams. Sydney Kings, NZ Breakers, Tassie JJs.
Kruz Perrott-Hunt – A former Breakers DP prior to his college career. Not in his best form with the Tauranga Whai right now but has been a knock-down shooter pretty much everywhere else he’s gone. In the right environment he could absolutely provide a bit of outside threat in a bench role.
Keanu Rasmussen – Born and raised in Aussie but with a kiwi father, currently playing for Hawke’s Bay Hawks... so we might be able to sneak this one under the radar. 20 years old and was a development player with Adelaide last year. Chances are he returns to the 36ers but he’s off contract right now (as far as has been reported) and is averaging 21.4 points per game shooting 49% from the field (36% from deep) for the Hawks, showing that he’s capable of scoring from multiple levels. That’s some serious talent. Keep him Aotearoa and see if we can’t get him in the Tall Blacks frame as well.
Taylor Britt – Questions about whether his athleticism would scale up but he has experienced that level before as a multi-year DP with Perth Wildcats. Still only 27yo with plenty of international experience, including going to the last World Cup. Currently having a great season with Canterbury Rams (whom he won the NZ NBL title with in 2023), really unlocking his lay-up abilities and dishing assists all over the show. Might be too a similar of a role-player to Mitch McCarron though.
A few other names who could be enticing: Callum McRae, Kaia Isaac, Campbell Scott, a Sam Timmins return, maybe even a Jordan Ngatai return, or entire folks like Sam Gold or Charlie Dalton to drop out of university. Dunno. Let alone promoting Carlin Davison, Max Darling, or Alex McNaught from developmental roles. There are so many good young kiwi ballers who could thrive with these opportunities, as we’ve seen from how many NZers are playing for Aussie clubs these days, but Aotearoa’s only pro basketball team doesn’t seem that interested in them, sadly.
Tune time...