Scattered Amongst
Blackcaps in the UAE, Welly Nix Women signings, U23 Men's Football, Kiwis rugby league, Domestic cricket contracts & more
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Aotearoa Warriors Diary: Winning By Any Means (Rugby League)
Kiwi-NRL Spotlight: Aotearoa's Warrior Shaun Johnson (Rugby League)
Aotearoa Warriors Diary: What You Are Missing About The 2023 Season (Rugby League)
Here Are Six Future Football Ferns To Help Solve Our Goal Scoring Issues (Football)
First Impressions Of The Wellington Phoenix In Their Giancarlo Italiano Era (Football)
Flying Kiwis – August 15 (Football)
27fm Weekly Playlist: August 14 (Music)
Scotty’s Word
Blackcaps won the first T20I vs UAE. Here's the playing 11...
Chad Bowes, Tim Seifert, Dane Cleaver (wk), Mark Chapman, Mitchell Santner, James Neesham, Cole McConchie, Rachin Ravindra, Kyle Jamieson, Tim Southee, Ben Lister.
Best performers...
Tim Seifert: 55 runs @ 162sr
Cole McConchie: 31 runs @ 129sr
Jimmy Neesham: 25 runs @ 114sr | 2w @ 5rpo
Rachin Ravindra: 21 runs @ 191sr
Tim Southee: 5w @ 6.2rpo
Mitchell Santner: 2w @ 5.5rpo
Seifert has had a wild ride in recent years and I threw him up as an interesting Blackcap in the Niche Cast yesterday. This flows through Super Smash, Caribbean Premier League and various Blackcaps activities but we can zone in on his Blackcaps T20I mahi to paint the picture...
2020: 50.28avg/140.2sr
2021: 10.62avg/84sr
2023: 74avg/173sr
After dropping out of the Blackcaps T20I team, Seifert finished last summer with scores of 79* and 88 vs Sri Lanka. Seifert's 55 vs UAE is his third 50+ T20I score in a row.
Southee was enjoying his T20 gigs prior to Blackcaps duty...
IPL: 2w @ 39.5avg/13.16rpo
T20 Canada: 4w @ 39.5avg/7.18rpo
Southee has a fabulous T20 record of 23.05avg/8.14rpo. After averaging 25-30 for four consecutive years (2017-20), Southee dipped to 19.62 in 2021 and 19.56 in 2022. 5w against UAE was Southee's first T20I performance of the year and as I pondered his stats, it turns out these Blackcaps all have excellent T20I records...
Tim Southee: 139w @ 23.05avg/8.14rpo
Ish Sodhi: 118w @ 22.8aavg/7.96rpo
Mitchell Santner: 93w @ 21.96avg/7.03rpo
Trent Boult: 74w @ 22.25avg/7.86rpo
Adam Milne: 47w @ 24.78avg/8.04rpo
Lockie Ferguson: 43w @ 19.2avg/7.62rpo
James Neesham: 35w @ 28.17avg/9.17rpo
Michael bracewell: 21w @ 10.42avg/5.36rpo
Women's domestic cricket contracts were announced on Friday morning. Below are the players contract except for Canterbury who haven't dropped their list yet...
Northern
Carol Agafili, Sam Barriball, Lucy Boucher, Marama Downes, Caitlin Gurrey, Yaz Kareem, Kayley Knight, Shriya Naidu, Nensi Patel, Holly Topp, Tash Wakelin, Jess Watkin, Eve Wolland
Auckland
Olivia Anderson, Bella Armstrong, Skye Bowden, Anna Browning, Elizabeth Buchanan, Prue Catton, Amie Hucker, Breearne Illing, Kate Irwin, Amberly Parr, Josie Penfold, Makayla Templeton
Central
Aniela Apperley, Georgia Atkinson, Ocean Bartlett, Flora Devonshire, Natalie Dodd, Kate Gaging, Claudia Green, Mikaela Greig, Melissa Hansen, Ashtuti Kumar, Emma McLeod, Thamsyn Newton, Kerry Tomlinson
Wellington
Nicole Baird, Rebecca Burns, Kate Chandler, Natasha Codyre, Hannah Francis, Antonia Hamilton, Xara Jetly, Leigh Kasperek, Caitlin King, Jess McFadyen, Monique Rees, Gemma Sims, Phoenix Williams
Otago
Gemma Adams, Emma Black, Caitlin Blakely, Chloe Deerness, Olivia Gain, Polly Inglis, Bella James, Louisa Kotkamp, Felicity Leydon-Davis, Paige Loggenberg, Molly Loe, Sophie Oldershaw, PJ Watkins
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International rugby league returns in October with a fun cluster of games. Player eligibility will be easier to suss out with games like NZ A vs Tonga A. While players can shift, it's highly unlikely there will be NZ A players going on to play for Tonga and same the other way. Players who can start for Tonga, Samoa, Fiji or Cook Islands probably don’t want to play NZ A.
More women's footy will spread the talent around as well with Samoa, Tonga and Fiji offering representative teams. I won't try predict things on the women's side as there are fewer indicators of eligibility and preferences, however I have a decent gauge of the lads. The Aotearoa Kiwis group is updated with Leo Thompson commanding a spot thanks to his winning mahi for Knights and I have included Braden Hamlin-Uele who may opt for Samoa given Aotearoa's middle forward depth.
Aotearoa Kiwis - grouped in their likeliest position...
Fullback: Joseph Manu
Wingers: Jordan Rapana, Jamayne Isaako, Ronaldo Mulitalo, Dallin Watene-Zelezniak
Centres: Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, Matthew Timoko, Bailey Simonsson
Halves: Shaun Johnson, Jahrome Hughes, Kieran Foran, Dylan Brown
Hookers: Brandon Smith, Jeremy Marshall-King
Middles: James Fisher-Harris, Moses Leota, Joseph Tapine, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Nelson Asofa-Solomona, Braden Hamlin-Uele, Jesse Bromwich, Isaac Liu, Leo Thompson
Edges: Briton Nikora, Marata Niukore, Isaiah Papali'i, Scott Sorenson, Jordan Riki, Kenny Bromwich
The 'A' team is listed below. I have excluded Jahream Bula who has stated his desire to play for New South Wales. There isn't much difference between the Samoan (S), Tongan (T) and Cook Islands players in NZ A and those listed as likely to play for those nations. Just a vibe - Greg Marzhew said on 'The Ditch' he wants to play for Samoa and Siua Wong is already a Fijian international for example.
Aotearoa A
Fullback: Keano Kini
Wingers: Will Warbrick, Deine Mariner (S)
Centres: Starford To'a (T), Rocco Berry
Halves: Te Maire Martin, Daejarn Asi (S)
Middles: Wiremu Greig, Griffin Neame, Toafofoa Sipley (S)
Edges: Connelly Lemuelu (S), Naufahu Whyte (T)
Hooker: Erin Clark (S)
Bench: Taine Tuaupiki, Xavier Willison (CI), Alec MacDonald, Tom Ale (T)
Extras: Reimis Smith, Adam Pompey, Hayze Perham, Morgan Harper, Valynce Te Whare
Samoa: Greg Marzhew, Kelma Tuilagi, Fetalaiga Pauga, Asu Kepaoa, Ata Mariota
Tonga: Fonua Pole, Ofahiki Ogden, Isaiya Katoa
Fiji: Siua Wong
Auckland's Fox Memorial finals are going down. The Plate final was last weekend and the big final is this Saturday. NZ Warriors have some tentacles in both finals...
Fox Memorial Grand Final
Richmond: James Gavet, Navajo Doyle
Pt Chev: Etuate Fukofuka (SGB), Presley Seumanu (SGB), Harry Durbin (SGB)
Fox Plate Grand Final
Mt Albert: William Piliu (SGB), Raphael Sio (SGB)
Te Atatu: Paterika Vaivai
Wildcard’ Notebook
The Wellington Phoenix Women have been busy again this week, bringing in another couple of imports as well as elevating an academy player.
Macey Fraser is that academy player and she’s been signed to the first team on a three-year contract – the longest ever issued by the women’s team. Previously only Chloe Knott, Alyssa Whinham, and Mackenzie Barry had signed multi-year deals. Fraser was part of the 2018 U17 World Cup squad that finished third so she’s yet another from that squad to have progressed into the Welly Nix first team. Mackenzie Barry and Grace Wisnewski have been there since day one. Marisa van der Meer joined them last year. Now we’ve got Macey Fraser. Don’t forget Kelli Brown was an inaugural Nix player while Georgia Candy spent last season there on a scholarship deal.
Those 2018 U17s are all in that 21-23yo age range now. Obviously Anna Leat has gone the furthest to date which is what most people would’ve predicted around that time – getting ready for her third season in the English top division. Gabi Rennie is a regular Football Ferns pick. Amelia Abbott and Maggie Jenkins have also been doing the USA college stuff same as Rennie and have been capped at senior level. There’d be an interesting Where Are They Now piece to write about them at some stage because along with them you’ve got the likes of Hannah Mackay-Wright and Britney-Lee Cunningham who have settled into strong domestic club careers, you’ve got Blair Currie who is playing semi-pro over in America. Maya Hahn switched allegiances to Germany while Jayda Stewart now plays for Samoa. And a couple others don’t seem to be playing football at all anymore.
By the way, Spain won that particular U17 World Cup, beating New Zealand 2-0 in the semi-finals. Spain also won the next U17 World Cup and are the current U20 World Cup champs too. Now they’re into the senior World Cup final. That 2018 U17 squad of theirs included several players who’ve been in Aotearoa for this World Cup: Eva Navarro, Catalina Coll... and goal-scoring super sub Salma Paralluelo (who was only 15 at the time). All three have been playing games though – goalkeeper Coll has been especially great after coming into the team after the 4-0 loss to Japan. Coll won the Golden Gloves at the 2018 U17 WC.
As for the two imports, we’ve got American fullback Hailey Davidson, who had a strong college career - including playing under current Nigeria coach Randy Waldrum. She went undrafted in the last NWSL college draft but did receive a training camp invite with the Houston Dash (where she met fellow Nix import Hope Breslin). HD then signed a short term deal at Mallbacken and was a regular for them in the second tier of Swedish football. Funky plot twist: the Swedish team had their World Cup base at the NZ Campus of Innovation and Sport where the Wellington Phoenix also work out of. Davidson’s agent also represents a few of the Swedish national team players, who raved about the facilities.
Then there’s Mariana Speckmaier, the much anticipated import striker that the team have been targeting. Speckmaier is a little bit more experienced than the other two visa players having been drafted by the Washington Spirit in 2021. She did get three NWSL appearances for them that year (in which they won the championship) but then left to sign in Russia, only to abandon that gig when the war broke out with Ukraine, ultimately playing instead for Valur in Iceland. There she made six appearances (only one start... in which she was subbed off, presumably injured, after 20 mins) without scoring a goal. But the trophy trend continued as she won a league and cup double. Valur were the team that finished first ahead of Betsy Hassett’s Stjarnan in second. She also got a taste of UCLW qualifiers with Valur.
This year Speckmaier returned to Washington Spirit as a training player until getting temporarily elevated to the main roster while others were at the World Cup. During that sneaky window she managed to score a Sam Kerr style game-winner in a Challenge Cup game against Orlando. Speckmaier was born and raised in Miami, Florida but her father is Venezuelan which has allowed her to represent the Venezuela national team. She went to the U20 World Cup in 2016, the year it was in Papua New Guinea, and scored the nation’s first ever U20s goal in a 3-1 loss to Germany. She has 12 caps for the senior team with 2 goals.
There’s been more movement in the A-League Women’s beyond the Nix this week with Grace Jale switching from Canberra United to Perth Glory. There she’ll join Liz Anton who has already re-signed with Perth for next season, while Hannah Blake was with them last year too as a midseason addition who scored three goals in nine games playing on the right wing for the Glory. No word yet on whether she’ll be retained. You’d hope so after that bright start.
This Jale switch is an exciting one, always is when kiwi players link up at overseas clubs, but it’s an odd one too. It had been reported that Jale was on a two-year contract at Canberra – where she was one of the ALW’s leading assist makers last term playing mostly as a winger – but clearly that wasn’t the case. Perhaps there was a player or club option on that second year. It also feels like a lateral move going from a team that finished fifth to a team that finished sixth last season (both would mean finals footy this next term thanks to the increased playoffs format) although Perth do have a reputation as a very strong development club and Canberra did have a core of forwards who kinda overshadowed how well Jale played last year. If the Glory have promised her a better role then there ya go.
Personally, I’ve been saying for a while that Jale oughta be used more often as a centre-forward. She’s got the strength and the speed and the finishing and the creativity to be really great there in the ALW... and if she locks that down then she’d pretty much immediately become Hannah Wilkinson’s main backup for the Ferns, perhaps even challenging her for starts.
Let’s see what the Glory have got cooking here. They’re one of the few teams keeping pace with the Welly Nix in terms of squad building and yet there are only really a couple of recognised strikers in their group so far... granted they may be targeting imports there like most teams do.
Updated List of NZers in the ALW 2023-24
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, Macey Fraser
Perth Glory: Liz Anton & Grace Jale
Melbourne City: Rebekah Stott
Newcastle Jets: Rebecca Burrows
Western Sydney Wanderers: Milly Clegg
Last year there were 29 in total, with nine of them at Australian clubs. Both new records. So far we’re up to 17 (assuming they all play) with five at Aussie clubs. It’s a steady climb with most other clubs a long way behind the Wellington Phoenix in putting their squads together.
Hey remember the NFL fella Michael Wilson who’s half kiwi and got drafted by the Arizona Cardinals? He got a yarn in this email a few weeks back and may potentially get a full article at some stage because he’s looking like he’s got a very enticing rookie season ahead of him.
The Cards played their first preseason game last weekend and Wilson only made two catches for eight yards against the Denver Broncos... but he also only played two series of action so there’s nothing nefarious about that. Preseason games generally follow a pattern of building up the starters a little more with each passing week so it’s usually not until the fourth and final game those guys are really digging it in. And guess what? Michael Wilson was one of the starters.
Preseason is not the regular season (duh). Still a ways to go before those stats even matter... but this is all promising stuff from the closest thing to a New Zealander in the NFL since Paul Lasike’s fringe efforts back in the 2015-16 range (originally for the Arizona Cardinals in preseason, then on the Chicago Bears as a practice squad player). Literally every single media story about Michael Wilson is about how well he’s doing, how much he’s impressing his coaches, how hard he works, what a top bloke he is, etc.
Back to the actual football now and there has been an U23 squad named for the Men’s Olympic qualifiers that begin later this month. Darren Bazeley is coaching them. Auckland is hosting the event with the OlyWhites playing their two group games against Papua New Guinea (3pm on Sunday 27 Aug) and Fiji (3pm on Weds 30 Aug) at Mt Smart Stadium while Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga & Vanuatu will play out west at Trusts Arena in the other group. There are then semi finals on Wednesday 6 September at Mt Smart followed by a final on Saturday 9 September which will be at North Harbour Stadium – and is the only one which’ll be ticketed, the rest of the matches are all free to attend.
It’s a slippery little tournament though because it’s outside the FIFA windows, hence any overseas professionals won’t have been available, however they will be allowed to make changes from game to game. Here’s the initial squad...
No surprises that it’s mostly a domestic group. 17 players from NZ, 4 from Australia, 2 from the USA. Lots of crossover from the U23 squad that took on China back in March with 13 players a part of both of those teams – and that number would’ve been higher but for injuries. Baze gave specific shout outs to Ben Old, Jay Herdman, Ronan Wynne, and Sam Sutton in the press release so presumably they’d have all been there otherwise. Herdman suffered a rather serious injury for Vancouver Whitecaps reserves not long after the U20 World Cup so he’s unlikely to play again this year. Sutton’s injury is news though because he featured for the Wellington Phoenix off the bench in their Aussie Cup game.
To be fair, Finn Linder isn’t here which puts some shade on whether his club teammate Herdman would have been available. No Fin Conchie either which is no doubt down to his ongoing suspended status. Eligible players like Marko Stamenic, Ben Waine, Matt Garbett, Kees Sims, Kian Donkers, Norman Garbett, Corban Piper, Henry Gray, Oliver Fay, Oscar Obel-Hall, etc. ... they’re all busy with club stuff overseas. There was some chat about the potential of Matt Dibley-Dias being involved but his presence in the first team at Fulham means that if he’s going to commit to NZ it’ll have to come at a later date. Same deal with Tyler Bindon.
Having said that there is a FIFA window which opens on September 4 which would encompass the semis and final and they’re clearly leaving the door open for mid-tourney additions with how that idea was dangled out there in the squad announcement. We shall see. Also the Wellington Phoenix have a game on Sunday 27 August away to Melbourne City in the Aussie Cup so that puts several of those Nix dudes in doubt for the group stage stuff.
As is now the custom, there are lots of Nix dudes in there. Paulsen, Van Hattum, Lukas KH, and Surman will all likely be required by the first team for that match. There are also WeeNix lads in Alby KH, Hughes & McKay while former academy players like Bidois, Ebbinge, Ott, and Toomey are also scattered amongst.
Lachlan Bayliss is the bolter for this lot. He’s a dual national who seems to have been born and raised in Australia. Recently re-signed with the Newcastle Jets having left to pursue his career in the Central Coast Mariners system and was the leading goal-scorer for the Mariners NPL team this year. He’s an attacking midfielder. Don’t know anything else about him yet. All these age grade teams seem to find a new Aussie kid with NZ eligibility.