Posterior Cruciate Ligament
Posterior Cruciate Ligament
Israel Adesanya glory, NZ Warriors flow state, Footy Ferns scored a goal, Blackcaps/NZA cricket, Steven Adams' injury, domestic football notes & more
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Kiwi-NRL Spotlight: South Island Leader Jamayne Isaako (Rugby League)
Football Ferns In Turkey: Squad Yarns & The Ongoing Journey (Football)
Eight Signs Of Progress From The Wellington Phoenix Women In Year Two (Football)
2022/23 Plunket Shield: Central Districts Are Champions (Cricket)
27fm Album Jukebox - March 2023 (Music)
Scotty’s Word
Israel Adesanya defeated Alex Pereira...
After three losses to Pereira across his fighting career, Adesanya finally grabbed a win and reclaimed his standing as a UFC superstar. I was curious how Adesanya would deal with this challenge and the combination of mental fortitude mixed with immense skill is nothing but inspirational. Tell the children.
Adesanya's UFC career has featured exquisite precision. There is enough power in his strikes to finish the best fighters in the world, although the accuracy and intent in every strike gives him extra juice. The finishing blow was right behind Pereira's ear and it looked like Adesanya was pushing a knockout button in that spot, rather than landing a whopper…
In their two UFC fights, one bloke has been winning until they lose. Adesanya was winning the first fight until a flurry late in the bout finished him and that flurry came with Adesanya stuck against the cage. In this fight Pereira seemed to win the first round and he had Adesanya up against the cage once again. Pereira throw a knee and stayed in the pocket right in front of Adesanya, a spot that Adesanya and Team City Kickboxing were probably prepared for.
I flirted with doubting Adesanya on Friday. I can't doubt anything Adesanya does now. If you love the art of fighting, there is so much to learn from Adesanya's excellence. All folks can appreciate the mental battle though and this win comes with heavy doses of self-belief. Work hard, maintain the vision of where you want to end up and don' let the wobbles overcome self-belief.
NZ Warriors lost to Newcastle Knights...
Tough loss and this could be viewed as a reality check, an easy entry for Warriors fans into doubt. Warriors have displayed an impressive level of grit and effort in every game this season though, including their losses. Knights were better than Warriors in most aspects, they had the home crowd humming, and yet Warriors made it a contest right up to the last minute.
Warriors also dealt with lots of adversity in the game. Te Maire Martin and Wayde Egan both suffered injuries, while Warriors are playing without three of their best forwards in Tohu Harris, Marata Niukore, and Mitch Barnett. Winning in the NRL is tough and the margins are slim so losing top-17 players or being slightly off with effort/intensity has a massive impact. With that in mind, Warriors battled through this game as they have done all season regardless of who was playing.
As long as this grit is present, there is no space for negativity. Coach Andrew Webster has established a tough footy team and the tentacles are flowing throughout the club as the NSW Cup team is one of the best teams, while Knights are one of the worst teams. Along with the collective theme through all six games, the loss to Knights also featured individual pockets of Warriors funk.
Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad was bonkers: 24 runs - 245m @ 122.5m/run with a try assist.
Now Adam Pompey is a fairly legit NRL centre?
Lots of blokes missed lots of tackles, not Addin Fonua-Blake...
16 runs - 151m @ 9.43m/run, 24 tackles @ 96%
Bayley Sironen continues his 'I'll do anything role'. Sironen slotted into hooker without Egan and plugged that hole, allowing the likes of Jazz Tevaga and Dylan Walker to stick to their roles. Sironen also made 24 tackles @ 96%.
Taine Tuaupiki got 16mins off the bench. This builds on his impressive performance at fullback vs Cowboys and gives him experience in different roles. Most importantly, Tuaupiki is gathering NRL experience and a wee taste of a bench role is more beneficial for Tuaupiki now than a NSW Cup game at fullback.
Tom Ale?
46mins, 14 runs - 155m @ 11m/run, 31 tackles @ 97%.
Prior to this game, Ale hadn't played over 25mins or made over 15 tackles. Ideally, Ale is playing limited minutes off the bench because the best forwards are all available. Ale has pounced at every opportunity for more minutes and like Sironen or Tuaupiki, this is game will amplify his development.
Opportunity and development. Demitric Sifakula was 18th-man against Knights and he will play NRL this season. Sifakula has had a strong start to the season in NSW Cup and with a bunch of forwards missing, Sifakula was promoted. Meanwhile we have recently seen Leka Halasima jump up from SG Ball to NSW Cup and Jacob Laban was a starting edge forward in reserve grade this round while still being SG Ball eligible.
Ronald Volkman and Dallin Watene-Zelezniak were impressive in the 54-14 Warriors win in NSW Cup. Two lads hunting NRL footy leading the NSW Cup team.
Matthew Timoko continues to command attention for Raiders and while he was slick in the win over Broncos, Timoko has maintained consistent footy throughout the 2-4 start for Raiders. Timoko is averaging 153m/game this season, up from 109m/game last season and his previous high of 111m/game in 2021. Timoko was tackling below 90% in the last two seasons, now he's at 93.5%.
Raiders may be giving Timoko more footy at right centre...
2021: 11.77 receipts per game
2022: 11.92 receipts per game
2023: 15.16 receipts per game
The Kane Williamson ODI hole could be filled by Will Young.
That's my choice and we will learn more about this through the ODI series vs Pakistan. My ODI 1st 11 batting unit looks like this...
Finn Allen, Devon Conway, Will Young, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham, Glenn Phillips.
Interesting List-A (one-day) batting comparison…
Kane Williamson: 46.62avg
Will Young: 42.23avg
Tim Seifert was the key batter in T20Is vs Sri Lanka and his performances reflects kiwi cricket's depth, as well as Seifert's growth. Northern won back to back Super Smash championships with different mahi from Seifert...
2021/22 Super Smash: 239 runs @ 29.87avg/123sr, 1 x 50
2022/23 Super Smash: 245 runs @ 27.22avg/150sr, 2 x 50
Similar runs and averages, yet Seifert was more aggressive this summer. This is also evident in Seifert’s T20I career as he operated between 137-140sr in his first three years then dropped down to 84sr in 2021. Against Sri Lanka Seifert scored at 177.65sr and he seems to be at his best when he is whacking boundaries.
Everyone was quick to moan about Blackcaps earlier in the season (complaints were typically insane - we gotta solve this Trent Boult fiasco vs the team is too old). Blackcaps finish the home season with a 7-2 record across all formats and did so diving into their depth, which like the Warriors stuff will lead to development bumps.
Folks love to complain and they love to try fix things. This summer is a reminder to let things flow naturally without the masculine need to control. Whether it's runs from Young or Seifert and wickets from Adam Milne, the experienced middle class helps Blackcaps win games right now. Player availability is naturally impacted by the cricketing schedule and we saw this with the development tour of India after the 1st 11 lads performed well in Pakistan, then IPL season opens up lots of selection holes.
The best emerging players from domestic cricket move up a level and gain experience. Fringe players slot into the team to compete for top-tier selection. Meanwhile, Aotearoa A cricket allows even more development as a bunch of youngsters are playing in the second fixture vs Australia A.
Mitch Hay, Will O'Rourke and Adithya Ashok are all in the team after being announced in the squad. Along with Logan van Beek, Muhammad Abbas is now in the team after not featuring in the initial squad. Abbas made his debut for Wellington in February and scored 453 runs @ 56.62avg (1 x 100, 3 x 50) in four Plunket Shield games.
With Dean Foxcroft playing both games, there is a strong crop of youngsters competing against Australia A. Guess what? The best players are still the older lads though with van Beek and Scott Kuggeleijn snaring lots of wickets, while Tom Bruce scores lots of runs. Cole McConchie has transitioned from Aotearoa A to the Blackcaps as well. The Blackcaps development pipeline is flowing as well as the Warriors one.
Don't fall for the negativity.
Updated wahine stats from the Fairbreak Invitational...
Jess Kerr: 3w @ 22.33avg/6rpo
Nensi Patel: 3w @ 20avg/6.66rpo
Suzie Bates: 53 runs @ 17.66avg/95sr
Musical jam...
Wildcard’s Notebook
The Football Ferns played in the early hours of Saturday morning and they even scored a goal. Didn’t manage to win against Iceland although it was a close competitive game easily capable of going in either direction, instead it ended 1-1. And, frankly, if this was a dress rehearsal for facing their Scandinavian neighbours Norway at the World Cup then sweet as... I’ll take a draw in that match any day.
Iceland didn’t qualify for the World Cup but that’s only because of their misfortune in being from Europe. They came second in their group behind Netherlands who were the beaten finalists at the last World Cup. Iceland scored 25 goals and conceded just three across eight games, defeating every team they faced other than the Dutch but that was only good enough to put them into a playoff. There they drew Portugal and were beaten 4-1 after extra time (with Portugal going on to qualify for the main event via the intercontinental playoffs in Aotearoa recently). Portugal of course beat the Fernies 5-0 last window.
So there’s no shame whatsoever in a 1-1 draw. The goal they conceded was a little sloppy coming from a long throw although we pocketed one from a set piece too so it swings both ways. It was a stronger, fitter team than the last time the Ferns assembled. That immediately led to a much better performance (funny that). Chances were created and a few of them were squandered though that’s always gonna be the case with this team. They’re not going to suddenly become amazing finishers. They’re bad at this particular task. That’s the whole point. They’re trying to become less bad, which they were in this game.
It’s their stoic defensive shape and physicality that is the strength of this team, traits which it’s felt like they’ve drifted away from a little in recent times due to the focus on the attacking end, so good to see a gritty defensive showing here and hopefully they can cash in with a win against Nigeria at 1am on Wednesday morning (or soon after Tuesday midnight if that’s easier to wrap your head around).
A couple of other stray notes... Vic Esson was in goal after missing the last five, all defeats. The trend of Esson’s presence leading to far more positive results thus continues. Not too many big saves to make in this one (Iceland’s finishing wasn’t good either) but a couple of instances rushing out of her area to sweep up passes in behind really showed her decisive side. The Footy Ferns’ recent mahi looks way better if you only count the games in which Vic Esson started...
2-0 vs South Korea, 0-0 vs Czech Republic, 1-2 vs Australia, 0-2 vs Norway, 0-0 vs Wales, 1-0 vs Mexico, 0-2 vs Japan, 0-1 vs South Korea, 1-1 vs South Korea, 1-1 vs Iceland
That’s ten games with 2 wins, 4 draws, and 4 losses. Never conceded more than twice in a match. Like, at this stage there’s a legitimate case to argue that Esson is the team’s most important player.
Also of great help was Rebekah Stott in central defence. She’s the CB playing at the highest level and despite not getting off the bench for Brighton in between windows that still counts for plenty. Katie Bowen started ahead of Claudia Bunge in the other spot and mostly defended well though was a little untidy in possession and was one of the players unable to stop the Iceland goal from being flicked in.
Personally, Bunge still feels like the better option however we’ll get a better idea after the Nigeria game as to which selections might be related to experiments and minutes restrictions (lots of players coming back from injuries so must be careful). But Stott was excellent on the other side and should be a starter come World Cup days.
Meanwhile two deeper options made strong cases for themselves: Michaela Foster and Jacqui Hand. Foster had some trouble defensively against the speed of Wolfsburg’s Sveindís Jane Jónsdóttir (pace is her one major issue at A-League level too) though was solid in all her other battles and those set pieces hit a new peak with some genuine aerial threats to aim for. With the Welly Nix, all of their attackers are bad in the air. Foster whipped in more crosses than any other player in the ALW but that wasn’t reflected in her assists. Corner kicks were therefore her main weapon as Marisa van der Meer was able to get forward (a bit of Kate Taylor too)... but for the Ferns there was Hannah Wilkinson and Grace Jale. Big diffo. Sure enough Fozzy got the assist for Wilkinson’s goal.
And alongside Wilkie was Jacqui Hand, back from injury and scooting ahead of recent second striker options like Paige Satchell and Gabi Rennie. For good reason too. Hand’s a clever player with a knack for making things happen (as her first season as a pro in Finland proved). There were some sloppy moments in here too, naturally, there will be from whichever options Jitka Klimková picks, but they were mixed amongst some proper industry from Hand, getting as involved as we’ve seen from any forward lately. JK’s clearly moved away from Satchell as a starter (always liked her better as a bench option who can change the flow of the game with some inherent chaos) so that spot is really up for grabs. Rennie started the last three games but didn’t even feature off the bench this time, with Milly Clegg given a debut late on, while Ava Collins didn’t even make this squad.
Alas, there was one big black mark upon this game and that was the knee injury suffered by Liv Chance just before the half. Haven’t heard anything since other than Klimková mentioning that they tried to work her out during the break to see if she could continue and that she hoped it was nothing major. That’s positive although knee injuries are bastards as Steven Adams could tell you and Chance is a crucial player for this Ferns team leading into the World Cup. Fingers crossed and all that. There should be more news leading into the second game (which Chance probably won’t play).
Speaking of Steven Adams, it ain’t good bruh. The man’s been ruled out of the rest of the season as his pesky knee injury refuses to heal. Must be serious because Adrian Wojnarowski swooped in to take the scoop for ESPN, outranking the local Memphis journos.
Frankly, this whole thing has appeared mightily dodgy. Adams landed on his knee late in a game against the Phoenix Suns on January 22. They said it would be 3-5 weeks before he was able to return. It then took seven weeks before the Grizzlies team bothered to give us a proper update... which was that he’d been given a stem cell injection and would be reassessed in a further month. That month went by and nothing happened for another week whereupon they said that the reassessment period was only just beginning and they’d have more news in due course. Eventually that’s led to him being unofficially shut down for the season.
Again, knee injuries are very pesky. It’s definitely possible that his injury simply hasn’t been healing as it was expected to hence all the pushbacks with his return. At no point has anyone confirmed any set-backs or re-injuries. The diagnosis of a sprained posterior cruciate ligament remains the official word. Something smells fishy about this whole situation... though it could merely be the piss-poor communication from the Grizzlies throughout the ordeal. Having said that, there hasn’t technically been an official Grizzlies PR update on Adams despite Woj and Shams both giving it the ‘sources say’ treatment. He has been going through warm-ups in recent pre-games. Best not to get your hopes up though, it’s more likely just more evidence towards the general confusion around his injury.
Domestic football chat now, here comes some sneaky observations...
The Southern League continues to unfold as expected with Cashmere Tech and Christchurch United both winning handily again. Each conceded multiple goals but Tech won 7-3 against Nomads (four goals for Garbhan Coughlan who already has 10 for the season and there’s literally only been three weeks of footy) while Chch Utd beat Dunedin City Royals 5-2 courtesy of another double for Sam Philip (seven goals in three games) who so far seems to be filling the void left by Eddie Wilkinson superbly. That’s a first loss for DCR albeit an expected one. Meanwhile Ferrymead Bays drew 1-1 with Nelson Suburbs to spoil their perfect record. Three weeks in and already the two big dogs are starting to break away.
The brow-raiser in the Central League was probably Waterside Karori going down 3-2 to Stop Out. That’s the third loss from three for Waterside, having already lost by a single spare goal to both the WeeNix and Welly Olympic. Not looking great for their designs on pressing for a National League place, albeit early days.
The WeeNix and Welly Olympic played each other on Friday and after goals from Hamish Watson and Dan McKay late in the first half, it eventually took a 90+3’ winner from Kailan Gould for Olympic to stay perfect (the only team to go 3/3 in the Centrals).
Miramar Rangers also had a valuable away win as Sam Mason-Smith and Ryen Lawrence goals cancelled out Sam Lack’s response for Napier City Rovers in a 2-1 win. Rangers may have seemingly lost ground to Olympic in the title race but they’re still looking more than talented enough for the top four. Lawrence has joined from Melville, as has Luke Searle. Jonty Roubos flipped over from Olympic. Seb Barton-Ginger’s graduated out of the Phoenix Academy. Coach Kale Herbert’s Hamilton connections clearly came in handy for English midfielder Brad Whitworth and Joe Harris. Yeah, they’ll be alright. Also Petone suffered their first loss as a Ryan Feutz double lifted Western Suburbs to a 3-2 away win.
As for the pesky Northerners, it was a double gameweek for Easter. The Friday games were highlighted by Hamilton Wanderers twice coming from a goal down to beat local rivals Melville 4-2. Wanderers had been fixtures in the National League under the old format but when the qualifying came into play last season it was Melville who snuck in ahead of them. Derek Tieku scored twice in that match. Wanderers then backed that up by taking points of Eastern Suburbs with a 1-1 draw this afternoon (Monday).
Funky thing about Eastern Suburbs is that they’d won 1-0 in each of their first three games. Still haven’t scored more than once in a match but they are also undefeated and that squad has had some serious injections between seasons. Someone must’ve passed the collection plate around Kohimarama lol. Adam Thomas has returned from his year in Ireland. Emerging goalie Joe Knowles is back after briefly moving to Miramar Rangers for Natty League footy late last year. Old mate Martin Bueno is amongst it once more. The signing of All Whites fullback Francis De Vries (coming back from an ACL injury) got a bit of buzz but also massive are the signings of Phoenix Academy grads Adam Supyk and Luis Toomey. Toomey had been in Finland last year doing some nice things down the grades so his appearance was a bit of a surprise. Last year was a disappointing one for the Lilywhites blokes (however the women won the National League so the overall club was all goods), finishing closer to relegation than the top four. Safe to say they’re not intending for that to happen again.
Also gotta mention a massive bounce back from Manukau United to beat West Coast Rangers 3-1 on Friday, coming off that 7-0 loss to Birkenhead in the previous match. Then WCR themselves bounced back from that defeat by drawing 1-1 with Auckland City at Kiwitea Street. First points dropped for the Navy Blues in 2023.
Western Springs also seem to be coming around after a tricky first fortnight (losing to City and Suburbs) – Scotty Hales’ team were the only club to win both games this Easter Weekend. Hence four games into the competition it’s a four-way tie at the top: Auckland City, Manurewa, Auckland United, and Eastern Suburbs all on 10 points.
Now, fresh from their Tiny Desk Concert, it’s The Beths doing the KEPX thing…