Revelations
Blackcaps seamer depth, NZers in the A-League Womens, Warriors NSW Cup, NRLW, NZ U23s footy & Michael Wilson in the NFL
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Aotearoa Warriors Diary: Finals Preview vs Knights (Rugby League)
Kiwi-NRL Finals Week Two Preview (Rugby League)
2023 Women’s National League Season Preview (Football)
Western Springs Are Kate Sheppard Cup Champions For 2023 (Football)
Christchurch United Are Chatham Cup Champions For 2023 (Football)
Flying Kiwis – September 13 (Football)
Reviewing The Aotearoa Tall Blacks At The 2023 FIBA World Cup (Basketball)
Meet Michael Wilson, The Closest Thing To A Kiwi In The NFL Right Now (NFL)
Scotty’s Word
As discussed in our Subscriber Pod and then in the latest Niche Cast (The Kiwi Rodri), these are sneaky interesting times for Blackcaps cricket. Leading the charge is Will O'Rourke who took 4w @ 3.16rpo in 9.1 overs against Australia A on Wednesday. Unfortuantely NZ A's dominance in the longform series has not translated to the one-dayers, down 0-2 with the last game being played Friday afternoon.
O'Rourke now has 2+ wickets in six consecutive innings, five of which are against Australia A. Sliced differently, O'Rourke has 2+ wickets in every innings bowled against Australia A. O'Rourke may be the best bowling prospect yet to play for Blackcaps with his height offering x-factor. He bowls fast enough and nibbles it around. That sounds exactly like Henry Shipley ... which is the same as Kyle Jamieson.
First, it's cool that Aotearoa has these kind of seamers outside the Blackcaps World Cup squad. Then there is the fact that these three tall seamers are all set to play for Canterbury this summer. Jamieson returns to Canterbury and O'Rourke is following Jamieson's initial journey south from Auckland, having moved to Canterbury after finishing school. Shipley is pure Cantabrian.
Canterbury snared Michael Rae from Otago and he is also impressing against Australia A. Rae has only played the one-dayers and he has 5w @ 14avg/3.68rpo in 19ov. Michael Rippon followed Rae from Otago to Canterbury this year and Rippon, giving Canterbury two funky leggies to go with all their seamers. They go lots of really good seamers.
I've ranked 10 Canterbury seamers below. All of them average below 30 in one format and Angus McKenzie is the only lad who doesn’t average below 30 in two formats (McKenzie's a decent batter though with an excellent bowling start to his Super Smash career). I think Zak Foulkes is just as impressive as O'Rourke but he hasn't played as much. Foulkes is among the best seaming/all-round youngsters in NZ so remember his name, but Canterbury has so much good depth that Foulkes is low in these rankings.
(FC | LA | T20)
Matt Henry
23.49avg | 26.78avg | 24.46avg
Kyle Jamieson
22.36avg | 32.58avg | 25.5avg
Henry Shipley
29.15avg | 37.22avg | 24.84avg
William O'Rourke
30.14avg | 21avg | 27.5avg
Ed Nuttall
31avg | 28.47avg | 29.36avg
Michael Rae
35.06avg | 27.04avg | 22.21avg
Sean Davey
17.6avg | 20.05avg | 65avg
Fraser Sheat
25.95avg | 43.75avg | 17avg
Zak Foulkes
26.72avg | 25.75avg | 15.33avg
Angus McKenzie
36.17avg | 35.7avg | 20avg
I'm not too fussed how or why this is the case. It's interesting that Jamieson, O'Rourke, Rae, Davey and McKenzie all joined Canterbury from other regions. Whether it's to study, to embed themselves at the Lincoln facility or to be closer to whanau; the best seamers go to Canterbury.
Best Blackcaps in ODIs vs England...
Batters
Daryl Mitchell: 192 runs @ 96av/110sr
Devon Conway: 134 run @ 67avg/82sr
Glenn Phillips: 74 runs @ 37avg/92sr
Will Young: 74 runs @ 74avg/87sr
Bowlers
Trent Boult: 8w @ 11avg/5.4rpo
Tim Southee: 4w @ 34avg/8rpo
Rachin Ravindra: 3w @ 36avg/6.7rpo
Ben Lister: 3w @ 23avg/6.9rpo
Newcastle Knights had a 28-8 win over Tigers last night in NRLW, sealing the minor premiership. This is the last round and I'll dive deeper into that game, plus previewing the weekend's games tomorrow morning. Knights are 8-1 on 16 points with Roosters and Titans next on 12 points (6-2). Knights are defending NRLW champions, although the 2022 team had no kiwi wahine in the Grand Final.
This season Knights have Shanice Parker and Abigail Roache in the centres. Laishion Albert-Jones has settled at edge forward and Nita Maynard plays an impact role off the bench at hooker. All four are Kiwi Ferns. Roache and Albert-Jones are the most interesting as they are in their first NRLW seasons after leaving Aotearoa. Both went from local footy to the World Cup last yeat and they are now playing consistently for the best team in NRLW.
Every year I whip up at breakdown of 'The Kiwi-NRL Juniors Who Helped Australian Teams Make Finals'. Check out the 2021 wrap here and last year's version is here.
Two threads from last year have weaved into this year's best junior teams. Jeremiah Matautia (Otara) and Henry Teutau (Marist) made the Mal Meninga Cup (U18) Grand Final last year, now they played the Hastings Deering Colts (U21) Grand Final this weekend vs Brisbane Tigers. Both played Queensland Cup for Townsville this season as well.
The other thread is Te Hurinui Twidle (Turangawaewae). Twidle came off the bench for Souths Logan in the U18 GF vs Townsville last year and then moved to Eels for this year. Twidle started at fullback as Eels won SG Ball (U19) and now he's playing fullback in Jersey Flegg (U21). Eels play Roosters this weekend for a spot in the U19 GF.
Twidle's rise through Eels is similar to Dylan Brown. Brown left Whangarei and was dominant in the Eels junior system, making his NRL debut as an 18-year-old. Twidle will take a different route but he's their fullback in U19 and U21 footy, winning at a similar rate to Brown's junior Eels teams.
Here are the basics for this year's Kiwi-NRL Winning thing...
Mal Meninga Cup (Redcliffe vs Townsville)
Redcliffe: John Fineanganofo (AGS), Elijah Rasmussen (WBHS)
(Rasmussen 14 games for Redcliffe U21s)
Hastings Deering Colts (Brisbane vs Townsville)
Brisbane: Tea-Rani Woodman-Tuhoro (Takahiwai), Samueal Vakadula (Bell Block), Braydon Seu-Easthope (Otahuhu)
Townsville: Jeremiah Matautua (Otara) Henry Teutau (Marist)
SG Ball (Knights vs Eels)
Knights: Elijah Leaumoana (Southern Cross/Manurewa), Jayden Harris (Kohukohu), Bailey Carmichael (RBHS/Te Puke) - Jarome Falemoe (Southern Cross/Manurewa)
Eels: Te Hurinui Twidle (Turangawaewae)
Jersey Flegg Semi-Final (Roosters vs Eels)
Roosters: Tavita Henare-Schuster (Kia Toa), Benaiah Ioelu (Tangaroa College), Lafi Tuinauvai (Waitemata), Salesi Foketi (Manurewa)
Eels: Te Hurinui Twidle (Turangawaewae)
NZ Warriors play their NSW Cup finals game against North Sydney Bears at 4pm NZT on Saturday. The winner will play in the Grand Final against Rabbitohs and these youngsters who I have mentioned all season are named to play: Ali Leiataua (Papatoetoe), Moala Graham-Taufa (Marist), Zyon Maiu'u (Te Atatu), Paul Roache (MAGS), Isaiah Vagana (Mt Albert), Jacob Laban (Randwick), Tanner Stowers-Smith (Halswell), Eddie Ieremia (Otara).
Warriors have lost both games vs Bears this season. 12-20 in Auckland and 12-30 in Sydney. Bears finished first on the ladder and Rabbitohs are locked in for the GF after finishing second and defeating Warriors in their first finals game.
If you're a rugby league freak, you may also want to check out Warriors youngsters (/all youngsters and/or future NRLW players) in the NZRL National Premiership. Teams aren't confirmed at the time of writing, but Auckland Vulcans usually have Warriors SGB lads Harry Durbin (Pikiao), Makaia Tafua (Linwood) and Presley Seumanu (SPC). Seumanu has dabbled in NSW Cup footy too.
Phranklyn Mano-Le-Mamea is a funky lad to track for Counties Manukau. Mano-Le-Mamea came through the De La Salle College/Otara Scorpions pipeline alongside Ieremia, Rodney Tuipolotu-Vea and Kayliss Fatialofa to play Warriors SG Ball. They then moved to Howick to stay in the top-tier of Fox Memorial where Mano-Le-Mamea covered halves/fullback. Now he's doing that at the highest level of local footy in Aotearoa.
Musical jam...
Wildcard’s Notebook
National League football is now just eight days away and my season previews are almost done and to celebrate the occasion one of the very best players from the 2022 season has been signed to an A-League Women’s contract. Canberra United have brought in Deven Jackson, who starred with a hat-trick in the grand final for Eastern Suburbs, for the upcoming season. She joins another WNL standout at Canberra in Ruby Nathan, formerly of Auckland United.
Deven Jackson’s is a great story. She played age grade for NZ before going off to university in the USA but had persistent injury troubles which caused her to step away from the game for a few years. But she was a revelation at Suburbs last year which led to a Football Ferns debut (alongside teammate Tayla O’Brien) for those USA games when a lot of overseas pros were unavailable.
Jackson was also called up for the wider pre-World Cup training camp so finding an ALW gig was the next step if she wants to really go for it. She’s still only 24 years old. In fact DJ was in the same U20s wave as Rebecca Lake, Hannah Blake, and Michaela Foster who all signed their first pro deals within the last 12 months – nobody’s washed up in their early 20s, remember that lesson kids.
NZers at Aussie ALW clubs for 2023-24:
Rebekah Stott & Hannah Wilkinson - Melbourne City
Liz Anton & Grace Jale – Perth Glory
Rebecca Burrows - Newcastle Jets
Milly Clegg - Western Sydney Wanderers
Hannah Blake - Adelaide United
Ruby Nathan & Deven Jackson - Canberra United
That’s nine with strong suggestions that Olivia Chance will soon join them, probably at Melbourne Victory by the sounds of it. Ten kiwis at Aussie clubs would surpass the record of nine last year (after eight in each of the two previous seasons), plus there’s still room for more with most teams still having visa spots available.
This is a genuine trend and while the camaraderie of the World Cup is a factor, there’s also the more tangible factors of a fifth import being available to teams from this season as well as expansion to a 22-game season meaning that players from Scandinavia and the USA are less capable of popping by in their offseasons as they used to do. The A-League has to be the main gig for these players now. Kiwis are available and kiwis are capable (with many more also performing at Aussie state level). That’s what’s happening.
The Wellington Phoenix have 18 locals in their 22-player roster (to be completed with the impending addition of import goalie Rylee Foster if all goes to plan). That’s down on the 20 who played for them last season but that’s to be expected now that they’re signing imports. Most of their Aussie quota players were dual nationals aligned with Aotearoa anyway so that doesn’t make a difference. However that 20 does include Emma Main who played as an injury replacement so it’s possible, particularly if there are international clashes, that we may see some others take the pitch from out of the reserve team which now exists.
NZers at the Wellington Phoenix:
Mackenzie Barry, Michaela Robertson, Emma Main, Chloe Knott, Alyssa Whinham, Michaela Foster, Marisa van der Meer, Kate Taylor, Grace Wisnewski, Brianna Edwards, Rebecca Lake, Kelli Brown, Macey Fraser, Annalie Longo, plus scholarships Zoe McMeeken, Olivia Ingham, Manaia Elliott & Daisy Brazendale
The 2023-24 season begins in exactly one month.
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It’s been a busy week of football writing between the cup final recaps and a typically stacked Flying Kiwis yarn (even while most of the blokes were in an international break there was still so much good stuff going on) plus National League previews so I’m not sure I’ll get around to writing about the Football Ferns squad. I definitely won’t have time to do the U23s Olympic qualifying either, after those lads won 9-0 against Fiji in the grand final last weekend. Good from them. That’s one down, and the Fernies will get their chance to qualify early next year – where they’ll probably be even more emphatic.
That U23 tourney was a weird one. Hosted in Aotearoa, the group stage operated outside the FIFA window plus NZ’s first opponents, Papua New Guinea, couldn’t get their visas in time to enter the country therefore that game was a default and the kiwis only played one match before the semis. Only three games in total and two of them were against Fiji. And because of the window thing, they were allowed to name entirely new squads from game to game hence the selections were hard to get a handle on. So for reference, my own as much as yours, here are the teams that Darren Bazeley picked for the three matches...
3-1 vs Fiji (Group Stage) – Mt Smart Stadium
Starting XI: Scott Morris | Zac Zoricich, Isaac Hughes, Aaryan Raj, Nathan Lobo | Campbell Strong | Liam Gillion, Luis Toomey, Willem Ebbinge, Jesse Rangall | George Ott
Subs Used: Keegan Kelly (66’ for Ott), Oskar van Hattum (66’ for Gillion), Dan McKay (76’ for Strong), Joe Lee (76’ for Randall), Ryan Verney (81’ for Toomey)
Unused Subs: Matthew Sheridan, Matt Ellis, Alby Kelly-Heald, Adama Coulibaly, Oscar Browne, Joe Knowles
Goals: Toomey (19’), Ott (21’), Randall (25’ pen)
8-0 vs Vanuatu (Semi-Final) – Mt Smart Stadium
Starting XI: Alex Paulsen | Zac Zoricich, Finn Surman, Aaryan Raj, Lukas Kelly-Heald | Dan McKay | Oskar van Hattum, Ryan Verney, Willem Ebbinge, Jesse Randall | George Ott
Subs Used: Matthew Sheridan (HT for Zoricich), Joe Lee (HT for Randall), Matt Ellis (HT for Ebbinge), Oscar Browne (HT for van Hattum), Keegan Kelly (HT for Ott)
Unused Subs: Scott Morris, Isaac Hughes, Campbell Strong, Liam Gillion, Riley Bidois, Alby Kelly-Heald
Goals: Randall (3’, 12’), van Hattum (10’, 39’), Ott (17’ pen), Verney (43’), Raj (55’, 72’)
9-0 vs Fiji (Final) – North Harbour Stadium
Starting XI: Alex Paulsen | Zac Zoricich, Finn Surman, Aaryan Raj, Lukas Kelly-Heald | Campbell Strong | Liam Gillion, Luis Toomey, Willem Ebbinge, Jesse Randall | Riley Bidois
Subs Used: Nathan Lobo (64’ for Kelly-Heald), Oskar van Hattum (64’ for Gillion), Keegan Kelly (72’ for Bidois), Joe Lee (72’ for Toomey), Matthew Sheridan (82’ for Zoricich)
Unused Subs: Scott Morris, Isaac Hughes, Ryan Verney, Dan McKay, George Ott, Alby Kelly-Heald
Goals: Bidois (3’, 6’, 19’, 45’, 63’), Randall (33’), Gillion (52’), OG (78’), Kelly (82’)
The NFL season began this week and kiwi-adjacent Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Michael Wilson made his debut. Albeit an inauspicious debut. Two catches on four targets for 19 total yards, with the longest being for 15 yards. He did get classified as a starter which is cool. And he was out there for 56 of their 62 offensive snaps – 90% which was the most of any of their offensive position players (so, not the quarterback or linemen).
The thing about the Cardinals is that they’re tanking and they’re tanking hard. So a 20-16 defeat to the Washington Commanders was about the perfect result – competitive enough to keep fans engaged but they still lost. Joshua Dobbs is their quarterback with Kyler Murray out injured and unlikely to return for a significant portion of the season (if at all). Dobbs completed 21/30 passes but only for 132 yards and he isn’t really a running threat either. Didn’t throw an intercept but he did fumble the ball three times, two of them lost possession. Their points all came from field goals as well as one defensive touchdown.
The Cards did have the ball inside the two-minute warning down four with a chance to take the lead but that ended up with a turnover on downs in their own half – with an incomplete pass to Michael Wilson on fourth & 10 being the killer. Curiously all four of Wilson’s targets came in the second half, with three of them in the final eight minutes of the game. His 15 yard catch was his team’s second longest passing play of the game. The Cardinals are going to be horrendous this year... but hopefully Michael Wilson gets more action as things progress.
Aye, new Fazerdaze!