Small Sample Size Case
Deine Mariner's impending debut, Conference League footy exploits, Yanni Wetzell's new gig, Lydia Ko's in form, some Blackcaps stat bites, and a Flying Kiwis Transfer Tracker ft. Sarpreet Singh
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Reading Menu
Flying Kiwis – July 26 (Football)
How’s That Wellington Phoenix Wahine Squad Coming Together For Season Two? (Football)
Recapping Some Quality Tall Blacks Shenanigans at the 2022 Asia Cup (Basketball)
2022 Commonwealth Games: Black Sticks Preview (Blokes & Wahine) (Cricket)
2022 Blackcaps Tracker: Finn Allen Enters T20I Mode (Cricket)
2022 Blackcaps Tracker: Michael Bracewell The T2OI Prospect (Cricket)
2022 Blackcaps Tracker: Glenn Phillips Continues... (Cricket)
2022 Blackcaps Tracker: The Lockie Ferguson T20I Basics (Cricket)
Scotty’s Word
What's the biggest Kiwi-NRL story of the week?
Deine Mariner's debut for Brisbane Broncos. Mariner has been a leading Kiwi-NRL prospect, perhaps the best prospect since Jordan Riki/Christian Tuipulotu after leaving Auckland to enter the Broncos system. I've done a few yarns breaking down Mariner's journey and that's the easiest marker of a monster Kiwi-NRL prospect.
Mariner made the Australian Schoolboys team last year while at Palm Beach Currumbin High School and winning everything. Mariner then entered Broncos NRL training over the summer before scoring 4 tries on Queensland Cup debut for Wynnum and in his first year out of school, Mariner has played 7 games with 8 tries. Mariner has started at centre in 4 games and on the wing for 2 games, with 7+ tackle busts in each of his last 3 games ... averaging 143m/game.
Those are bonkers reserve grade stats for anyone, let alone a bloke who just finished school. Now the Marist Saints junior from Auckland is named to start at centre for Broncos and I'm fizzing to see how this develops. For such attacking threats, defence can be niggly and this often caps how much NRL footy a youngster can play. All I can throw up here is 86.3% tackling efficiency and that's fairly solid, although defending as an NRL centre is a niggly task.
Broncos face Tigers on Saturday night. Broncos don't have much space for Te Maire Martin now or moving forward, hence there's noise about him joining NZ Warriors. Xavier Willison is competing for bench minutes as a middle forward but is named on an extended bench, leaving Mariner and Riki as the Kiwi-NRL lads.
Mariner starts at centre for Broncos, while Tigers have named Starford To'a and Asu Kepaoa as their centres. To'a, Kepaoa and Mariner are all from Auckland and all three were recruited by NRL clubs from Auckland - they didn't move to Australia as children. Three out of four centres starting in this game are from Aotearoa and Auckland.
Why didn't NZ Warriors sign Mariner?
Umm, why didn't NZ Warriors sign Mariner, Riki, Willison, To'a or Kepaoa?
You know my vibe by now as it's all about Kiwi-NRL mahi and every NRL club treats Aotearoa as their farm system. Warriors don't have any rights to Kiwi-NRL talent, this is not their backyard. This is Kiwi-NRL abundance and there is so much talent that everyone gets a taste. Many NRL clubs scout players at a young age and have them under some kind of contract, thus limiting what Warriors can do.
Broncos had their mitts on Riki as soon as possible, they brought Willison over from Waikato and had Mariner in their Aotearoa academy. Mariner played for Auckland Vulcans Under 16s against Future Warriors and that's because he was already signed to Broncos while in Auckland. As I've noted many times in these emails, Broncos have the Fa'atili brothers from Christchurch in their system and Broncos are the funkiest Kiwi-NRL recruitment club right now.
Another wrinkle is that Keano Kini (Northcote) was recently named in the 2022 Australian Schoolboys team via Palm Beach Currumbin and Gold Coast Titans. This is part of the south-east Queensland Kiwi-NRL hub and shows the calibre of these lads who are placed into Australian schools to ease their transition. Willison, Mariner and Kini all went to PBC.
Mariner featured as 18th-man for three consecutive NRL games and this seems to be well thought out. Mariner has earned selection ahead of other blokes such as Brenko Lee and this isn't a case of no other lads being available, plus Mariner has been rolling through the game day routine to catch the vibe. Mariner is also rising through a winning team and his last four games for Wynnum are all wins.
What's the second biggest Kiwi-NRL story of the week?
Alfred Smalley's debut for Sea Eagles. You would have heard all about that Sea Eagles drama and it resulted in Otahuhu's Smalley starting on the wing, scoring a try on debut. Smalley went to Otahuhu College where he won a few NZRL awards and as late as last year, Smalley was playing for Otahuhu in Auckland's Fox Memorial competition before playing for Counties Manukau in the NZRL National Premiership.
Given the circumstance in which Smalley made his debut, I don't know how this looks moving forward. What I'm curious about is Smalley's connection to Sea Eagles as he has been back and forth between Otahuhu and Sea Eagles. This is amplified by Eiden Ackland playing six games in the halves for Sea Eagles in NSW Cup (alongside Smalley) before he returned to Auckland with Mt Albert.
This is only from tracking team lists, so I don't know all the details. I do know that this is not common and it reflects nicely on the local Aotearoa scene where Fox Memorial players who then command National Premiership selection appear to be on an Australian reserve grade level. Mariner left Aotearoa and dominated straight away in Australia, same with Willison and a bunch of other lads. Blokes are getting Queensland/NSW Cup gigs from the highest level of footy in Aotearoa.
Lovely start to the Scottish Open for Lydia Ko as she's tied-2nd. Remember to release the need to win events and celebrate consistency as that's why Ko is the best in the world (Aotearoa bias).
Speaking of consistency, remember how Monday's email featured Matt Henry's consistent wicket-taking? Henry took 9w in Kent's loss to Lancashire and he now has 12w @ 18.83avg in two games. William Williams is also gathering wickets, taking 5w in that game and he now has 23w @ 18.39avg. Two Canterbury seamers averaging 18ish and they have the best bowling averages for their respective County Championship teams.
Will Young also found some runs in Northamptonshire's win over Gloucestershire. Young started with a steady knock of 61 (49.59sr) which after seven knocks of 20 or below, was much needed time in the middle. Young then spiced things up as Northants chased 202 runs for victory, hitting 43 runs @ 110.25sr. Two different knocks that take Young to 449 runs @ 44.90avg with a century and three 50+ scores in 10 innings.
Blackcaps are bullying Scotland, well they did in the first T20I and will probably continue that mahi in tomorrow morning's fixture. Finn Allen cracked a century and Ish Sodhi took 4 wickets...
Allen has a T20I strike-rate of 178.48 and T20 strike-rate of 175.35.
Allen's T20I strike-rate would be ranked 1st in the world, all-time. Allen has only faced 172 deliveries though and Cricinfo's marker is 250 deliveries.
Allen's T20I strike-rate is ranked 3rd in the world, all-time. The two blokes ranked ahead of Allen are from Romania and Hungary, while the bloke in 4th is from Belgium. Allen has the highest T20 strike-rate ever of batters with 1,000+ runs. Let's break that down...
(3rd) Finn Allen: 1,878 runs @ 30.78avg/175.35sr.
(6th) Andre Russell: 6,906 runs @ 26.57avg/169.50sr.
(9th) Tim David: 2,556 runs @ 33.19avg/164.79sr.
(14th) Ed Pollock: 1,072 runs @ 19.85avg/160sr.
Sodhi is Aotearoa's best T20I bowler by average and strike-rate. Remember that Lockie Ferguson has a small-sample-size case to be the best but hasn't bowled enough deliveries to be ranked via Cricinfo (31w @ 14.32avg/12.2sr after 380 deliveries) Sodhi's 20.81avg is ranked 56th and his 15.5sr is ranked 25th. No kiwi has a better T20I strike-rate than Sodhi, while Daniel Vettori has a slightly better bowling average.
I was surprised to see that Canterbury haven't won a Super Smash championship (since NZC's 2008/09 cut off) and a low key wrinkle here is Sodhi's move south to Canterbury. Sodhi has three Super Smash championships with Northern (2013/14, 2017/18, 2021/22) and he has been Aotearoa's best T20 bowler for a while now, so adding him to a solid Canterbury outfit could be crucial to their Super Smash campaign.
These lads won't play Big Bash League cricket though. Colin Munro and Todd Astle are the only kiwis listed in the BBL overseas player draft, neither has a domestic cricket contract.
Wildcard’s Notebook
Riiiiighto, apologies for missing the Monday mailer but that ‘rona ain’t no joke, man. Anyway I’m back in business now and happy to report some delightful dealings from the Europa Conference League qualifiers.
This was the second leg matchday of the second qualifying round. After this we’re halfway towards the group stage – there’s a third round and then a playoff round to follow. Heaps of games all happening at once and two that kicked off simultaneously at 6am NZT were Brøndby (Denmark) vs Pogon Szczecin (Poland), as well as Sligo Rovers (Ireland) vs Motherwell (Scotland). Joe Bell playing for Brøndby, Max Mata and Nando Pijnaker for Sligo.
Rovers first, they were 1-0 up against Motherwell from the away leg and a bit unlucky not to have returned with a bigger lead. They were barely troubled at the back by the Scottish club... and that trend pretty much continued in this second leg. Great effort from their defence who spent a long time on the back foot here yet limited their opponents to very few clear chances. Plus Shane Blaney scored an absolutely super free kick after only four minutes to extend that lead anyway.
Motherwell tried to hit the accelerator in the second half. Some of their subs definitely did help their case. But it was the home side who made the change that mattered, chucking on Max Mata with twenty to play and in stoppage time it was he who sealed the deal with a beautifully well taken goal. He scored in the first tie vs Bala Town, now he’s scored in the second tie vs Motherwell. Nando Pijnaker also got ten mins off the bench coming on at centre-back to lock the door once and for all. Rovers won 2-0 on the day, 3-0 on aggregate.
Sligo Rovers had only ever won three European fixtures in their history prior to this season, and only two aggregate ties. They’ve matched both those efforts during this run and could take it even further next week when they begin their third round qualifiers against Viking FK (Norway).
Is that a familiar club name to you? It should be because Viking is Joe Bell’s old team. Gianni Stensness still plays there – Nando Pijnaker could get to say what’s up to his old Olympic CB partner – although GS appears to be out injured at the moment, having not played for two months. Viking upset Sparta Prague in their second rounder, scoring a stoppage time winner to advance.
Meanwhile Joe Bell’s new club Brøndby delivered a game of two halves away to Pogon Szczecin, dominating the first half to lead 1-0 but then easing off to draw 1-1. In the second leg at home they were very much second best for large portions of the first half. Pogon hit the post. They had a heap of corner kicks. Forced some saves.
And yet Brøndby had one thing in their favour: the high press. Two interceptions in the attacking third led to Simon Hedlund goals. They scored a lovely third early second half as their Polish visitors got desperate. Then Joe Bell came on from the bench and helped give them a bit more control as BIF eased to a 4-0 win as it ended, 5-1 on agg. They’ll face FC Basel in the third round.
Whereas Sligo Rovers are in it for the vibes, Brøndby have a more genuine expectation of making the group stages – which is exactly what we want as it’ll guarantee Joe Bell a heap more starts as he tries to force his way into the starting eleven.
Yanni Wetzell’s got himself a new gig: signing a three-year deal with ALBA Berlin. The Baskonia thing only lasted a handful of games before they took the out clause in his deal to release him, never really getting a chance to prove that he belonged at that level. But that’s all good because he’s gonna get that chance elsewhere instead.
ALBA Berlin are a EuroLeague club. One of the big dogs. Top league in the world outside the NBA, one which he thought he was going to get a chance to play in for Baskonia now will surely get that chance with ALBA instead. Only a handful of kiwis have ever partaken in EuroLeague before, by the way...
This club is also three-time defending champs of the German Basketball Bundesliga. Finished first in the regular standings ahead of Telekom Baskets Bonn – whom Finn Delany has recently signed for – then swept their first two playoff series 3-0 before beating Bayern Munich 3-1 in the finals. Bayern who beat TB Bonn in a decisive game five in the semis. EuroLeague is invite only so Telekom Baskets Bonn have to settle for the third-tier Champions League instead.
ALBA Berlin were 12-16 in the last EuroLeague which meant missing out on the playoffs by a couple of wins. Amongst their former players: some bloke called Kirk Penney. No doubt he had a word to Wetzell about this whole move. Perhaps even more so his old Breakers teammate Peyton Siva, who joined the Breaks specifically following five years with ALBA Berlin.
Also... watch some NBL and Tauihi basketball while you’re at it. Into the last couple rounds of both and the finals are coming up fast and it’s still so wide open, especially in the men’s competition.
Flying Kiwis Transfer Tracker
Sarpreet Singh’s back in the news. Having had a permanent move to Werder Bremen fall through because of a failed medical a wee while ago, he’s had to lie low and focus on getting back to fitness since then. Now his upcoming season has become clear. He’s going out on loan again, returning to SSV Jahn Regenseburg in the German second tier.
He’s also signed a one-year extension to his Bayern deal in the process, though don’t get carried away by that part. It’s effectively them saying: let’s try that again. Singh was remarkable with SSV Jahn for the first half of last season until he got hurt about 60% of the way through. This way he goes back to the same well and tries to repeat the dose for a full season’s worth of goals and assists, at a comfortable place where he’s well known and appreciated, and then at the end of that he’ll be exactly where he would have been this offseason had things gone as planned... one year left on his deal and pondering a next move.
What Bayern have done by extending him is to protect his transfer value. Wouldn’t think a team like that would care too much about that (it’d be chump change compared to Robert Lewandowski’s fee, or whoever) but s’pose all the pennies add up.
Ideally he’d be playing Bundesliga with Werder Bremen. Maybe he still will if he’s back soon enough to prove himself before the January window, who knows, but injuries do happen and at least he’s got an environment both at Bayern Munich and SSV Jahn where he’s supported. Excited to see him absolutely savage the 2.Liga all over again – Singh was on course to challenge for the league lead in assists before getting hurt.
The Welly Nix wahine have been busy unveiling signings all week. Since the last one of these updates they’ve thrown in Betsy Hassett, Kate Taylor, Brianna Edwards, and Chloe Knott. Takes them up to eight players on board, seven of them going towards their kiwi player limits (Edwards is a dual-national despite being in the NZ U20 World Cup squad) meaning that only four more NZers can be added. And that at least two of last season’s kiwi squadies won’t be able to return (not including Grace Jale who’s already left for elsewhere). More on that balance over here.
Knott spent last season as a false nine kinda striker despite being a midfielder by trade. Betsy Hassett is probably of maximum value playing deeper in the middle getting on the ball as much as possible which suggests Knott could be playing that same role again. All that’s just speculation until we get more players on board and the jigsaw gets closer to completion. Edwards is backup goalie to Lily Alfeld. Taylor will be starting CB alongside Mackenzie Barry in that familiar partnership.
Already mentioned Max Mata’s latest ECL exploits... it’s not strictly transfer related but might as well mention that he signed a contract extension earlier this week. A two and a half year deal that’ll keep him with Sligo Rovers until the end of 2024. He’s in a great place, playing really well, and those kinds of situations are the ones you don’t wanna mess with. Top work.
Elsewhere in Ireland, Adam Thomas hasn’t featured much for rival top flight club Shelbourne. Has gotten a few games in there but not many. He’s now been loaned out for the rest of the 2022 season to first division club Galway City, who are sitting second and challenging for promotion. This is a ‘get some matches’ kinda gig. Gotta do what ya gotta do... and if it all goes well and promotion happens then the lad’ll have some fine options for next term.