Similar-ish
Blackcaps T20WC preview, Wellington Phoenix & Auckland FC, Kiwi-NRL juniors, Ford Trophy cricket, Football Ferns squad, and more
Scotty’s Word
Blackcaps start the T20 World Cup vs Afghanistan on Sunday. They have only played two T20Is against each other and there was another game rained off, with all three fixtures in T20WC. Aotearoa won the game in 2021 but then lost the opening game of the 2024 T20WC with a solid bowling effort (159/6) followed by a horrible batting innings in which they were rolled for 75.
Glenn Phillips’ 18 runs @ 100sr was the best Blackcaps knock and no batter went over 100sr. The group is fairly similar but Kane Williamson and Trent Boult played in this loss as well as the next loss vs West Indies, while Devon Conway was opening the batting as wicket-keeper and I expect Tim Seifert to do that role this time around.
Conditions will be similar-ish using general cricket stereotypes. The 2024 game was in Guyana and Afghan leggy Rashid Khan took 4w @ 4.2rpo, having also taken 1w @ 6.7rpo in the 2021 game. This will be a tricky game for Blackcaps to start their campaign and I’m curious how they perform given the change in coach, as well as other developments like Jacob Duffy becoming an awesome Blackcaps bowler.
One other random thing...
Jimmy Neesham in T20 World Cups: 22.28avg/148sr | 19.85avg/7.1rpo
Neesham has only played two T20Is in India and hasn’t done much with bat or ball, plus he hasn’t played in Sri Lanka. I don’t have Neesham in my 1st 11 but he’s a funky squad member to have for a major tournament.
My Blackcaps 1st 11
Finn Allen, Tim Seifert (wk), Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Matt Henry, Jacob Duffy, Lockie Ferguson
Michael Bracewell is the most likely player to disrupt that. He could come in for Ravindra or Chapman, bumping the batters up a spot and settling ahead of Santner in the line up.
Blackcaps deep dives for each format: Test | ODI | T20I
Four batters hit centuries in Ford Trophy on Wednesday and they’re all really good at batting...
Henry Nicholls
vs Auckland: 122 runs @ 103sr
Ford Trophy: 428 runs @ 85.6avg/97sr, 3 x 100 - 1st
List-A: 43.1avg/85sr
Nicholls has three centuries in Plunket Shield as well, giving him six centuries in nine games across the two longest formats this season.
Tom Latham
vs Auckland: 104 runs @ 139sr
Ford Trophy: 308 runs @ 77avg/103sr, 1 x 100, 2 x 50 - 3rd
List-A: 36.35avg/86sr
Brad Schmulian
vs Wellington: 148* @ 151sr
Ford Trophy: 373 runs @ 93.2avg/93sr, 2 x 100, 1 x 50 - 2nd
List-A: 49.82avg/81sr
Tim Robinson
vs Central Districts: 100 runs @ 126sr
Ford Trophy: 308 runs @ 77avg/106sr, 2x 100, 1 x 50 - 4th
List-A: 30.88avg/91sr
Beyond the paywall I have more Ford Trophy nuggets like Tom Blundell’s domestic form and a few more HBJ Shield things as they spark up again this weekend. Here’s a quick HBJ Shield refresher...
Ladder
Northern Districts: 5-1 | 23 points
Wellington: 4-2 | 19 points
Auckland: 3-3 | 14 points
Central Districts: 3-3 | 13 points
Otago: 2-4 | 10 points
Canterbury: 1-5 | 5 points
Canterbury are a combined 2-14 across both competitions this season.
Batters with 200+ runs
Emma McLeod: 342 runs @ 68.4avg/81sr
Caitlin Gurrey: 310 runs @ 51.6avg/80sr
Kate Anderson: 280 runs @ 56avg/91sr
Saffron Wilson: 216 runs @ 36avg/75sr
Bowlers with 10+ wickets
Elizabeth Cohr: 14w @ 10.6avg/5.1rpo
Jess Kerr: 14w @ 12avg/3.1rpo
Xara Jetly: 14w @ 16.2avg/4.4rpo
Kayley Knight: 13w @ 11.6avg/3.6rpo
Emma Black: 12w @ 15.4avg/3.3rpo
Missy Banks: 11w @ 18.1avg/4rpo
Nensi Patel: 10w @ 17.5avg/3.9rpo
NZ Warriors metres per run…
2022: 8.9
2023: 9.1
2024: 8.8
2025: 9.31
2025 Broncos: 9.15
A Casual's Guide To New Zealand Warriors Optimism For The 2026 NRL Season
10 Funky Kiwi-NRL Juniors In Australia For 2026
Funky Kiwi-NRL juniors named in NRL pre-season...
Bulldogs: Sosaia Alatini (Hornby), Alekolasimi Jones (St Paul’s College)
Cowboys: Mason Barber (Kaikohe)
Dragons: David Fale (Marist), Setu Tu (Dragons)
Knights: Sosaia Latu (Mangere East), Elijah Salesa-Leaumoana (Mangere East), Francis Manuleleua (Papatoetoe)
NSWRL Under 19 footy start this weekend and I’ve got lots of notes for paid subscribers, as well as the lovely folks funding our work on Patreon. Two hot pockets...
Three of the five spine players for NZ Warriors are from Christchurch:
Rico Lemalie (Linwood), Amasio Tiatia (Linwood), Rene Frame (Halswell)
Add in Joseph Ratcliffe from Palmerston North and four of the five spine players are not from Auckland.
Three wahine from Wellington are selected in the U19 women’s competition. Two Wainuiomata juniors in Paige Tauaneai (Illawara) and Billie Va’a (Eels), plus Randwick junior Te Raukura Leafe who is in the Roosters team.
Musical jam...
Nick’s Notebook
The first Football Ferns squad of 2026 was announced yesterday, with Michael Mayne picking his 23 players for the group phase of World Cup Qualifying. Not the most strenuous of fixtures up against Samoa, Solomon Islands (hosts), and American Samoa – without being cocky about it, we could genuinely put up an aggregate score of, like, 30-1 from those three games.
As such there are a few names missing from the squad where it may have impacted their club situations (players fighting for positions, etc)... much like the All Whites did with Finn Surman for equivalent fixtures last year. I’m writing about all that for the usual preview article with all the funky stuff, but here’s an exercise I like to do with these national team squad where I pick a shadow squad of players who didn’t make the cut (due to injuries, selection, whatever – excluding long term absentees)...
Football Ferns Shadow Squad (Feb 2026)
GK – Anna Leat (Newcastle Jets), Claudia Jenkins (Adelaide Utd), Bri Edwards (Western Sydney)
DEF – Kate Taylor (Dijon), Marisa van der Meer (Wellington Phoenix), Ally Green (FC Copenhagen), Grace Neville (Ipswich Town), Zoe McMeeken (Melbourne Victory), Rebecca Lake (N/A), Jana Niedermayr (Union Kleinmünchen), Suya Haering (Carl Zeiss Jena), Olivia Page (Newcastle Jets)
MID – Katie Bowen (Inter Milan), Malia Steinmetz (FC Nordsjælland), Liv Chance (N/A), Betsy Hassett (Stjarnan), Lara Colpi (FC Thun), Daisy Brazendale (Wellington Phoenix)
FWD – Jacqui Hand (FC Basel), Gabi Rennie (Eskilstuna Utd), Emma Main (Wellington Phoenix), Zoe Benson (Wellington Phoenix), Maggie Jenkins (Wellington Utd)
Stronger shadow squad than usual with a few regulars not involved on the upcoming tour. Had to sneak either Bowen or Taylor into midfield to make up for the excessive quantities of defenders. There are a couple players here without current pro deals but all have played professionally within the last twelve months. This is without Annalie Longo (retired) or CJ Bott (pregnant) or Alyssa Whinham (ACL)... though I did include Malia Steinmetz who is close to a return from her own ACL lay-off but hasn’t actually reappeared on a footy field quite yet.
Wellington Phoenix Players Per Football Ferns Squad (Mayne Era)
Costa Rica (4): Barry, Elliott, Jale, Longo
Chinese Taipei (2): Elliott, Longo
Venezuela (3): Elliott, Jale, Longo
Mexico/USA (4+1): Barry, Bott, Elliott, Esson (Wall IR)
Australia (3): Bott, Esson, Wall
Solomons (7): Barry, Elliott, Esson, Jale, Pijnenburg, Vlok, Wall
That’s what happens when you start winning games. The ALW isn’t strong enough for players to make the Ferns by default, they’ve gotta be performing (especially for Coach Mayne who loves his in-depth analysis). Throughout last year, only Annalie Longo and Manaia Elliott seemed to be able to command regular selection... the signings of CJ Bott and Vic Esson have helped the Nix’s stocks although CJB’s not available for the next nine months and combined with Longo’s retirement that about balances out. Yet the Nix just had one of their most significant national team representations ever.
Emma Pijnenburg wouldn’t be there if she wasn’t playing well. Grace Jale and Mack Barry have each earned recalls through fine form. Lara Wall is getting close to regular status. Pia Vlok is one of three uncapped call-ups in this latest group. And you know what? I’m willing to argue that Marisa van der Meer is a very unlucky exclusion herself, particularly given her versatility across the backline. If there’s a defensive injury (as often happens) between now and the squad assembling in three weeks (they named this pretty early tbh) then gotta think that MVDM would be high on the list.
Speaking of which, the WahiNix have won three games in a row and host Perth Glory this weekend (with Central Coast to follow):
They’ve already tied their club record winning streak and will break it with another three-pointer this weekend
They can also match the club’s record unbeaten streak of four matches
Two of their three biggest ever wins have come within the past seven matches
A clean sheet for Vic Esson would give her the most career cleanies for the club (granted, they’ve had a different starting goalie every season)
With 26 goals in 12 games, they’ve already exceeded last year’s total of 25 goals in 23 games
A win on the weekend and they’ll also match last season’s points tally
Makes you wonder how long until they start doing something about the fact that the only players signed beyond this season are: CJ Bott, Samba, Emma Main, Marisa van der Meer, Tiana Jaber, Macey Fraser, and Pia Vlok. Seven players... two of them are out long term, another hasn’t played all season, another only just made her return from a broken foot last week, and another is a scholarship player. Bev Priestman has a two-year contract, for what it’s worth. Players with expiring contracts is a very common thing in women’s footy but the vibes around the Welly Nix right now might just give them the room to get ahead of their business.
After the paywall, I’ve got some bonkers Auckland FC stats showing a major area where they’ve fallen off this season, as well as a look at the AFC goalkeeper depth chart and a rundown of the major Flying Kiwis transfers in the January window
We still don’t know how long Chris Wood will be out for at Nottingham Forest, or whether his ongoing recovery from knee cartilage surgery will affect his World Cup prospects in any way. The phrase “steady progress” was used by his coach last week. Just gotta wait and see. But while The Woodsman remains the All Whites’ best and most important player, it’s not like they don’t have depth around him. No team should be fully reliant on one dude and the thing about this All Whites team is that it’s stacked with players in career-best form, five months out from the World Cup. I’d say that about Crocombe, Just, McCowatt, Stamenic, Boxall, Bell, Surman, and Bindon for sure (add in Parker-Price and Randall if they make the cut).
They’ve also been able to get results without Chris Wood in recent years. This is what it looks like over the non-OFC games that Darren Bazeley has been in charge for (including his interims but not including the abandoned game against Qatar)...
Chris Wood Started
D 1-1 vs DR Congo (Oct 2023)
L 0-2 vs Australia (Oct 2023)
L 0-2 vs Greece (Nov 2023)
L 0-3 vs Mexico (Sep 2024)
D 1-1 vs USA (Sep 2024)
L 0-1 vs Australia (Sep 2025)
L 1-3 vs Australia (Sep 2025)
D 1-1 vs Norway (Oct 2025)
Chris Wood Off The Bench
W 4-0 vs Malaysia (Oct 2024)
W 1-0 vs Ivory Coast (Jun 2025)
L 1-2 vs Ukraine (Jun 2025)
L 0-1 vs Poland (Oct 2025)
Chris Wood Not Involved
D 0-0 vs China (Mar 2023)
W 2-1 vs China (Mar 2023)
L 1-4 vs Sweden (Jun 2023)
L 0-1 vs Egypt (Mar 2024)
D 0-0 vs Tunisia (Mar 2024)
L 1-2 vs Colombia (Nov 2025)
L 0-2 vs Ecuador (Nov 2025)
Accounting for the differences in opposition quality, there’s really not that much between any of those outcomes. And another thing that stands out with this All Whites squad is the amount of leadership they’d still have even without Captain Woodsy...
Michael Boxall captains Minnesota United
Ryan Thomas captains PEC Zwolle
Alex Rufer captains the Wellington Phoenix
Joe Bell is vice captain for Viking FK
Libby Cacace is vice captain for the All Whites
Tyler Bindon once captained Reading in an FA Cup game aged 20yo
Finn Surman has captained Portland Timbers several times
Matt Garbett captained NZ U23s at the last Olympics
Not to mention the added veteran leadership of guys like Tim Payne, Francis de Vries, Max Crocombe, Kosta Barbarouses, possibly Bill Tuiloma, and potentially even Tommy Smith whose character is held in such regard that he might be included in a staff capacity just to have him around.
Musical Jam...
