Quibbles
Wellington Phoenix & Auckland FC, Plunket Shield & HBJ Shield, Kiwi-NRL offseason updates, Football Ferns confusion, and more
Scotty’s Word
Three Plunket Shield things...
Henry Nicholls and Josh Clarkson are still in glorious form. Here’s their Ford Trophy and Plunket Shield mahi this season...
Ford Trophy
Henry Nicholls: 306 runs @ 76.5avg/95sr
Josh Clarkson: 16w @ 11.3avg/3.8rpo
Plunket Shield
Henry Nicholls: 220 runs @ 220avg/80sr
Josh Clarkson: 7w @ 22avg/3.5rpo
Nicholls’ scores this season: 117*, 11, 138, 25, 15, 111, 109*.
Clarkson wickets this season: 5, 4, 3, 4, 0, 4, 3, 0.
Spin is a massive factor in Aotearoa these days. Six bowlers have 8+ wickets in Plunket Shield and four of them are spinners who each play for a different team...
Rohit Gulati: 15w @ 16.1avg/2.4rpo (Auckland)
Glenn Phillips: 9w @ 33.6avg/3.4rpo (Otago)
Ish Sodhi: 9w @ 38.4avg/4rpo (Canterbury)
Joshua Brown: 8w @ 22.1avg/2.9rpo (seam)
Angus McKenzie: 8w @ 27.1avg/3rpo (seam)
Tim Pringle: 8w @ 39.6avg/3.3rpo (ND)
Blackcaps from the Test squad vs West Indies in Plunket Shield...
Tom Latham: 75 runs @ 37.5avg/50sr (52, 23)
Will Young: 8 runs @ 4avg/31sr (1, 7)
Kane Williamson: 20 runs @ 10avg/74sr (17, 3)
Blair Tickner: 5w @ 16.2avg/3.3rpo (4, 1)
An NZ 11 team helped West Indies prepare for their Test series vs Aotearoa last week. Nothing notable from the bowling mahi but Muhammad Abbas scored 61 runs in his come back from injury and Cameron Paul scored 91 runs.
Abbas had scores of 52, 41 and 11 in his first three ODIs earlier this year. Then he struggled in overseas tours for NZ-A with scores of 0, 19, 5, 25 and 0 before finishing the tour of South Africa with scores of 66, 40 and 47. Add in his 61 vs West Indies and he has four 40+ scores in a row. Abbas currently averages 34.8 in First-Class batting and 31.8 in List-A batting.
Paul is a funkier story because he is super similar to Zak Foulkes. Not does Paul have the same genuine all-round ability and a Gray Nicolls sponsorship like Foulkes, he’s also from the same grassroots hub of Darfield as Foulkes. Paul has shown talent with the bat but he hasn’t had a big score in his first seven games for Canterbury and he’s got 18w @ 21.5 in FC bowling, as well as 5w @ 14.8 in LA bowling.
2025 West Indies Tour Of New Zealand: Five Key ODI/Test Pockets For Blackcaps
2025 West Indies Tour Of New Zealand: Blackcaps Test Stats, Form & Legendary Mahi
2025/26 Plunket Shield: Round Two Basics
HBJ Shield round up…
Northern Districts vs Otago
ND won by 47 runs
ND won by 2 runs (DLS)
Central Districts vs Wellington
Wellington won by 45 runs
CD won by 129 runs (DLS)
Canterbury vs Auckland
Canterbury won by 155 runs
Auckland won by 6 wickets
Stat leaders - Batting
Kate Anderson: 262 runs @ 87.3avg/96sr
Emma McLeod: 208 runs @ 69.3avg/85sr
Prue Catton: 172 runs @ 57.3avg/84sr
Caitlin Gurrey: 166 runs @ 41.5avg/71sr
Saffron Wilson: 129 runs @ 32.2avg/71sr
Polly Inglis: 110 runs @ 27.5avg/78sr
Cate Pederson: 110 runs @ 27.5avg/85sr
Anna Browning: 109 runs @ 27.2avg/70sr
Holly Topp: 107 runs @ 26.7avg/64sr
Bowling
Xara Jetly: 11w @ 15.4avg/4.5rpo
Elizabeth Cohr: 8w 2 6avg/3.4rpo
Emma Black: 8w @ 16.2avg/3.5rpo
Fran Jonas: 8w @ 16.3avg/4.8rpo
Rosemary Mair: 7w @ 15.4avg/3.6rpo
Gabby Sullivan: 7w @ 15.8avg/3.4rpo
Jess Simmons: 7w @ 18.7avg/5rpo
Missy Banks: 7w @ 19.1avg/4rpo
Amie Hucker: 7w @ 19.4avg/3.9rpo
Highest batting strike-rates
Kate Anderson: 262 runs @ 96.32sr
Emma McLeod: 208 runs @ 84.89sr
Cate Pederson: 110 runs @ 84.61sr
Jess Kerr: 68 runs @ 83.95sr
Prue Catton: 172 runs @ 83.9sr
Lowest economy rates
Marama Downes: 4w @ 3.14rpo
Elizabeth Cohr: 8w @ 3.42rpo
Gabby Sullivan: 7w @ 3.45rpo
Emma Black: 8w @ 3.51rpo
Most wicket-keeper dismissals: Holly Topp (7)
Most catches: Marama Downes (5)
There is a round-up of the best emerging batters in domestic cricket, more HBJ Shield notes, my best Kiwi-NRL juniors yet to debut in Queensland and an emerging NZ Warriors team selected beyond the paywall.
Dolphins updated their NRL development list with Kiwi-NRL juniors John Fineanganofo and Patrick Kailahi. Fineanganofo has been in the Dolphins system for a few years after leaving Auckland Grammar School and played six games of Queensland Cup last year, then 15 games this season. Dolphins described him as a hooker which is funky because he has played centre, halves, hooker, small forward so far in reserve grade.
Kailahi left Hamilton Boys High School to enter the Dolphins system where he has played three years of U18/U19 Mal Meninga Cup. This year he played NRLQ U20s for Dolphins and was described as a middle forward, having also played edge forward in the Dolphins system.
Two more departures from the NZ Warriors U17 championship crew…
Ronan Byford (Ngongotaha) is now signed to Broncos.
Isaiah Savea (Hornby) is now signed to Storm.
Musical jam…
Nick’s Notebook
Having spent the weeks leading up to the Football Ferns games against Australia wondering why there was next to zero marketing and promotion being done about them, the Ferns went ahead and got thrashed 5-0 in Gosford on Friday night and suddenly the reactions flew in. That’s always a frustrating thing to see as someone who has written countless words over the years trying to contextualise Football Ferns negativity... but in this case it’s warranted. Because strange things are going on here, things which continue to set this team up for failure.
In the past four games, they’ve lost 1-0 and 2-0 to Mexico followed by a 6-0 loss to USA and a 5-0 loss to Australia. They play the Aussies again on Tuesday night. That was a Matildas team with Sam Kerr sitting on the bench, by the way, while the USA squad was understrength too. A quick squizz at those results and it’s obvious that things ain’t right. If you’re reading this then you probably read the series preview too so I’ll stick with bullet points to recap the factors at play here...
The Football Ferns continue to schedule games against much higher ranked opponents that we’re not good enough to compete with. We did have four games against weaker sides to start the year (a draw and win against Costa Rica; a loss and a win vs Venezuela) but the fact we only won 2/4 of those games is proof that Australia and especially USA are not what we need right now.
The Football Ferns are not picking all of their best players. Since the Olympics, Michael Mayne’s put an emphasis on expanding the player depth by trying different options. There can be quibbles about how and where he’s going about that but the overall idea is true – 39 different players have been in squads this year, with 31 of them getting on the pitch. But, like, it’s hard enough taking on the Aussies at the best of times let alone with Katie Bowen and Rebekah Stott watching from afar.
Right now, the Football Ferns do not have the calibre of players that they’ve had in previous years. This isn’t about depth – we’ve got more pros than ever – it’s about the level that our very best players are at with their clubs. Our presence in the top global leagues has shrunk.
Also, women’s football continues to expand worldwide, especially in Europe where it’s tapping into the men’s club scene, leading to resources and exposure that we can’t possibly compete with in Aotearoa. Our squad could be as talented as it’s ever been and we’d still be slipping down the rankings as our progressive nation headstart shrinks away. This is arguably the biggest factor and it’s one we can basically do nothing about.
Since the World Cup, the Ferns have only played 2/26 games in New Zealand. That’s pathetic. Home games give us a better chance of results, they create that crucial connection with fans, they build up the profile of the squad so they’re not out of sight out of mind, and they also lead to more media access and thus more accountability for weird stuff like not picking Katie Bowen and Rebekah Stott.
Also if we’re apparently still in ‘test the depth mode’ while playing against teams like USA and Australia, perhaps we shouldn’t have skipped both the October and November 2024 windows after the Olympics.
I’ve never agreed with the Bowen and Stott situation (at least CJ Bott seems to be back in the frame now), though up until recently I’d tried to err on the side of: this is just early cycle rotation, things will ramp up again next year. And perhaps they will but Michael Mayne had a press conference after the first game in Oz during which (courtesy of Australian media) he was asked about Stotty’s absence and his response was this:
“She knows what she needs to do. Any player that’s not here has got the feedback they need.”
Which suggests that she’s not being rotated, she’s been dropped. Absolutely baffling. And although it’s Stott who is getting the focus because of her high profile in Australia as captain of Melbourne City, it’s actually Katie Bowen who is the more egregious absence. She’s a starter for Inter Milan, finished second in Serie A last season, and has played Champions League qualifiers and Europa Cup within the past few months. At a time when we’re relatively scarce on top level pros, our toppest level pro has been dropped for no conceivable reason. Although at least she’s gotten the feedback that she needs.
Stott was there for the Venezuela games and Bowen was there for the Mexico/USA tour. They were each dropped again afterwards. When they were picked, they were used almost exclusively as midfielders. This whole thing is bloody strange... made worse by Mayne’s inconsistent (and heavily coach-speak) messaging about it.
Meanwhile, Annalie Longo has been in every single squad despite being semi-retired. That’s justified, she remains one of our best mids having been outstanding for the Wellington Phoenix last season, but she was never going to be part of the World Cup picture. Longo’s actually just announced her international retirement following Tuesday night’s game vs Oz, a message we’ve been expecting to hear after every tour this year. Shout out to a legend but it’s all very confusing.
Retirements Of Football Ferns Centurions
Ria Percival (166 caps) – Last cap July 2023
Ali Riley (163) – July 2024
Betsy Hassett (160) – ACTIVE
Abby Erceg (146) – February 2022
Annalie Longo (143) – Last cap will be December 2025
Amber Hearn (125) – June 2018
Hannah Wilkinson (125) – May 2024
Katie Duncan (124) – June 2019
Katie Bowen (116) - ACTIVE
Rosie White (111) – October 2021
Rebekah Stott (108) - ACTIVE
Kirsty Yallop (104) – September 2017
Sarah Gregorius (100) – March 2020
After Tuesday night, that’ll be 10/13 centurions that’ve retired in the past eight years. Four of those in the last three years. The highest-capped current players other than Hassett, Bowen, and Stott is Meikayla Moore with 73 caps... and CJ Bott is the only other one with more than 50 (she has 51). Liv Chance (48) and Gabi Rennie (44) are slowly getting up there.
This past weekend was the first ever in which the Wellington Phoenix won and Auckland FC lost. Puts next week’s derby into a different context, doesn’t it? I was a bit surprised how much negativity there was around the Wellington Phoenix after that previous derby defeat – the whole not scoring against nine men thing provided a whipping post that turned that into another embarrassment... which may have been true (in a weird way, AFC were most effective at the back when the red cards forced them into a low blow – the Nix would have had more of a chance against ten or eleven) but they were very close to getting something from that game. The 1-0 loss to Macarthur was frustrating because even in a poor attacking performance they should have gotten out of there with a 0-0 draw. And other than that, they’d had draws away to Perth and Central Coast with a home win vs Brisbane (albeit via a very late winner).
There’s nothing amazing about one win from five games, that’s for sure, but the point is that they were hovering in all of those matches, only requiring a few more tweaks to turn them into victories. One tweak was finding more comfort in the defensive high line. Another was bringing more attacking intent, with a willingness to shoot and create shots rather than making safety-first possession decisions. We got those things as they beat Adelaide 2-1 on Saturday. Moving Manjrekar James to RCB and Isaac Hughes to the middle was a clever alteration that put Hughes in a more familiar spot and allowed James to step up a bit higher (as Lukas Kelly-Heald was also doing on the left). Also putting Carlo Armiento in a ten position meant he was in shooting areas more often, able to be more aggressive with his decision-making... really nice starting debut from Dan Edwards too.
Suddenly the Nix have got two wins, two draws, and two losses and things don’t look so bad, do they? Haven’t conceded more than twice in a game this season. Scored in all but one of them. They lead the A-League Men’s in average possession (58.9%). They were pretty promising in those first few games before copping a huge psychological blow in the derby which clearly spilled into their performance the next week. But it seems they’ve put that right by beating Adelaide (and just in time because if they’d lost that ahead of Derby #2 then the negativity would have been overflowing).
Kazuki Nagasawa vs Adelaide:
90 minutes played
1 assist (second of the season)
36/44 passing (82%)
5 passes into attacking third
4/6 accurate crosses
2 tackles
5 defensive recoveries
2 fouls earned
1 time dispossessed
This guy is the most underrated player in the Wellington Phoenix squad right now, and is absolutely thriving in this new system where (when it works) the ball pops much quicker along the ground through the midfield. Nagasawa has been all over that with his short one/two touch passing. He’s also putting in a great defensive shift and on top of all that he’s creating chances too.
As for Auckland FC, you could argue the opposite thing where that Derby #1 victory covered over what’s been an underwhelming start to the season – granted, an underwhelming season for a team that knows how to grind out results when they’re off their game. They were undefeated through five with three wins and two draws prior to losing 2-1 at home in the rain against Newcastle Jets... yet something hasn’t been quite right with them.
We know they’ve had some injuries and suspensions, with some new players getting big minutes, so that’s going to be a little disruptive to begin with as combinations change and the new guys settle. It’s more than that, though. I dug into some stats comparing last season to this and it’s all pretty much identical except that they’re scoring less. And that finishing aspect cannot be ignored. Last season they scored 49 goals from 42.5 xG, while this season they have 7 goals from 9.3 xG. They’ve gone from comfortably exceeding expectations to slumping in front of goal.
Nobody’s gonna want to hear this because he’s all of our favourite dude right now but Jesse Randall has been the main culprit, credited with nine big chances missed already this season (next most in the league is Victor Campuzano of Sydney FC with five... and Ifeanyi Eze is third with four). Randall has scored one goal from 27 shots (11 on target). You’d always rather have a dude getting into positions and missing than not getting into those positions and Randall does also have a couple of assists this year. He’s working hard and pressing well. But let’s be honest, he’s been really wasteful too.
Auckland FC Goals to xG in 2024-25
Guillermo May – 9 goals from 9.4 xG
Logan Rogerson – 8 goals from 6.2 xG
Max Mata – 2 goals from 5.9 xG
Jake Brimmer – 3 goals from 3.0 xG
Jesse Randall – 3 goals from 2.9 xG
Auckland FC Goals to xG in 2025-26
Jesse Randall – 1 goal from 3.7 xG
Sam Cosgrove – 3 goals from 2.5 xG
Gullermo May – 0 goals from 0.8 xG
Lachlan Brook – 1 goal from 0.7 xG
Louis Verstraete – 2 goals from 0.6 xG
As you can see this wasn’t the case for Randall last season. He’s getting much bigger minutes now and that expanded role means more varied shooting opportunities. So far he hasn’t lived up to that.
This also gets into a wider issue through these first six games because it’s even though he keeps missing chances… it’s really only Randall that’s looking capable of scoring for AFC at the moment. Cosgrove does have three goals but two of those were tap-ins created by Randall. Those two goals, in Derby #1, combine for 1.74 of Cosgrove’s 2.5 xG... meaning he’s at 0.76 xG across the other five games combined, similar to where Brook and May have been. Brook scored an amazing free kick last week but that’s all he’s done - only taken 10 total shots from open play in six starts and nine of those were off target. As for May, he’s been missing in action all term.
Compare that to last year when not only was May banging them in but they also had Logan Rogerson and Neyder Moreno massively exceeding their Expected Goals (Moreno scored 8 goals from 2.1 xG!). What’s more, they were getting goals from defenders too. Four for Nando Pijnaker. Three for Hiroki Sakai. Two for Francis de Vries.
Kinda telling that when they needed a goal yesterday, they chucked Nando up top to chase one. He and Sakai have missed more footy than they’ve played this season due to injuries. Rogerson’s been dropped for Brook and then got himself suspended. Moreno’s gone back to Colombia. The varied goal-scoring threats that they had last season have not been there through these six games (other than Louis Verstraete popping up with a couple from midfield).
Musical Jam...
