"Sup Bro, What's Your Name?"
Kai Kara-France, Steven Adams, Women's World Cup, Claudia Bunge, NZ Warriors, Lydia Ko & Sam Waardenburg yarns
Podcast Extras
A couple excerpts from our regular Monday Patreon-only podcast. If you rate the chat, and if you reckon we do decent work in general, get amongst the Patreon whanau and support what we do… chur chur
Reading Menu
All Whites WCQ Quest: Battered But Victorious, 1-0 vs Tahiti (Football)
All Whites WCQ Quest: 7-1 vs New Caledonia, Moving Up The Gears (Football)
Appreciating Hannah Wilkinson’s Goal-Stacked A-League Season (Football)
2021/22 Plunket Shield: Curious Cases Of Michael Bracewell, Cole McConchie & Rachin Ravindra (Cricket)
Flying Kiwis – March 22 (Football)
Scotty’s Word
Kai Kara-France wins…
After being the only City Kickboxing UFC fighter with a winning record in 2021, Kai Kara-France stretched his winning streak out to 3-0 with a win over Askar Askarov in Ohio yesterday. Askarov hadn’t lost a UFC fight prior to this bout and was chillin’ among the best flyweights, mainly via his grappling prowess. So when Askarov took Kara-France down in the first round, spending 3:09mins in ‘Control’ (5min rounds) ominous signs were lurking.
CKB’s style is predominantly based around world-class striking and adequate grappling defence. Sometimes this doesn’t work well such as Dan Hooker’s loss to Islam Makhachev or Blood Diamond’s debut loss a few weeks ago. Brad Riddell has impressed on his rise through the UFC’s middleweight division with patiently skillful grappling defence and Kara-France has now shown exceptional grappling defence in multiple top-tier fights.
After losing to Brandon Royval (Sep 2020), Kara-France defeated Rogerio Bontorin after spending 3:15mins of the first round under grappling control. Kara-France absorbed that, then finished the fight within the first round via strikes. Kara-France was far too good for Cody Garbrandt, sealing a first round win via strikes. Askarov’s grappling was slick, swift and tricky. Kara-France rode the wave, steadily escaped and got busy with his hands.
Kara-France won by decision and there is a lovely insight into UFC scoring here. Askarov spent plenty of time wrapped around Kara-France, but didn’t do much damage. Kara-France could always find an exit point and when standing, there was no comparison; Kara-France landed 51/130 significant strikes, Askarov landed 27/60.
Israel Adesanya is already a UFC legend and CKB’s best fighter. Kara-France is a clear second and he is the only CKB fighter to win their last three fights. There could be a title shot lurking, perhaps even a next up match up for an interim title. Otherwise Kara-France can demand a title shot with another win. The recipe of world-class striking and more than adequate grappling defence makes Kara-France a top-five fight in his weight class, as well as the funkiest CKB fighter right now.
Women’s Cricket World Cup…
While I have been intrigued by the various responses to Aotearoa’s World Cup campaign, these fall into alignment with the abyss between Aotearoa media and The Niche Cache. We apply our mindfulness vibes in practical fashion and we exist because of how mainstream media covers sport. Our White Ferns coverage speaks for itself and there is plenty of it, stretching back years with plenty of notes highlighting red flags. With that said, practical mindfulness requires releasing any frustrations to let the mahi represent The Niche Cache.
Now we slide into semi-final mode for the World Cup. Australia vs West Indies on Wednesday in Wellington, South Africa vs England on Thursday in Christchurch. Australia are an exceptional cricket team and should be too good for Windies, yet Windies have been clear in their plans and execution. Windies are the funky team to rally behind, they have enough talent to compete with the Aussies. Windies also have quality spinners and while the late summer vibe is now autumn vibes, thus offering fresher conditions, spin will be a factor in limiting Australia’s batters on pitches that have hosted plenty of games recently.
Australia have the best batter in the world in Meg Lanning. Windies have the best x-factor in Deandra Dottin. England have the best wicket-keeper in Amy Jones. South Africa have the fastest/most hostile bowler in Shabnim Ismail.
England wahine elevated their mana throughout this tournament. They were more fragile than Aotearoa at some point in the World Cup, now they are in a semi-final against South Africa. England blokes continue to decline and Aotearoa is a far better cricketing nation on the men’s side (this winter tour to England will be funky!), on the women’s side it’s all England though.
South Africa have low key captivated me and everyone should have noted the major red flag of South Africa dominating Aotearoa, in Aotearoa back in early 2020. Their rise from being behind Aotearoa to leaping past Aotearoa, joining the best teams in the world has been impressive. Remember that South African cricket isn’t flush with cash and endures steady dramas, yet South Africa keep improving. So many good players in this team, led by the mellow Sune Luus and I want South Africa to win the competition.
I keep learning about the history of women’s cricket in Aotearoa and this helps frame my insights. Aotearoa has won a World Cup, been in two other finals and did so with far less resource, opportunity or buzz than what we currently have. Aotearoa has been among the best women’s cricket teams for roughly 40 years and this is why Aotearoa is the best sporting nation in the world; regardless of whatever excuses are dished up, Aotearoa performs among the world’s best.
That’s why The Niche Cache is here. Aotearoa is still among the best women’s cricket nations in the world. Dwell less on excuses or reasons not to perform (they have so much more money though!) and take not that regardless of situation, teams and individuals from Aotearoa sit among the world’s elite.
Solid Lydia Ko…
Bit of dip for Lydia Ko after results of T10 and 1st to start 2022. At the time of writing Ko is T13th at the JTBC Classic and however others finish their final rounds, Ko is likely to stay in the top-20. Ko had a T23 finish before some pandemic niggle and I’ll whip up a deeper dive soon, but for now there is a distinctly solid vibe to Ko’s LPGA Tour mahi.
No terrible results, no missed cuts. Just Ko staying steady and given previous volatility, this is tremendous.
NZ Warriors win…
Stink game vs Wests Tigers, good win for Warriors. The one thing to cling to for Warriors fans is the forward pack and I’m curious about this. Addin Fonua-Blake is still among the NRL’s best props, Matt Lodge does a good job as well, Josh Curran is a natural footy joker and Wayde Egan continues to slowly develop. The other pieces to the forward pack are all big and mobile.
Warriors will only win games if their forward pack is better than their opponents. Much of this depends on their defensive effort, covering inside channels etc and winning the ruck without conceding penalties. As long as Fonua-Blake and Lodge are playing, Warriors should be able to roll downfield. How this looks over the course of a season? I dunno, but there is something to track here.
Kiwi-NRL Juniors…
I learned about Austin Dias this week - Wests Tigers forward from Waikato via Taniwharau Rugby League. Dias is on the fringe of the Tigers NRL squad while playing for Western Magpies in NSW Cup and I came across a Wai-Coa Bay Under 17 squad featuring Dias, Morgan Harper and Hayze Perham.
Magpies lost to Canberra Raiders this week and I have been following Jack Sandford’s rise through the Raiders system closely. Sandford won NSW SG Ball last year with Sione Moala and Sandford has now played three SG Ball games, one Jersey Flegg and one NSW Cup game this year. Sandford came off the bench for Raiders NSW Cup, replacing Xavier Savage at fullback mid-game (maybe due to Savage needing to move into Raiders NRL squad). When blokes are quickly moving through systems like Sandford, my antenna perks up.
Manurewa Marlins junior Ata Mariota started at prop for Raiders NSW Cup - Sandford was recruited from Christchurch Boys High 1st 15. Manurewa junior Sione Moala is starting halfback and captain for Raiders Jersey Flegg, Marist Saints junior Stanley Iongi is starting hooker for Raiders SG Ball.
Redcliffe Dolphins/NZ Warriors…
Junior Ratuva, Edward Kosi and Taniela Otukolo played for Redcliffe in Queensland Cup this weekend. Jacob Laban and Tamakaimoana Whareaorere were in the Redcliffe Mal Meninga Cup team … with Sefanaia Cowley-Lupo.
Cowley-Lupo is the latest NZ Warriors junior to pop up with Redcliffe, with the Bay-Roskill junior starting at fullback in his first game since moving from Auckland. Cowley-Lupo was Deputy Head Boy at St Pauls College in Auckland and dabbled in cricket while at school.
Wildcard’s Notebook
Steve-o Keeping Busy
Breaking records all over the show, this guy.
It’s been so great to watch as Steven Adams this season as he shatters his previous career-high in assists, blossoms into a legendary leader on and off the court with his new team, establishes a fantastic screen-setting connection with an emerging MVP candidate, plays some extremely solid defence... but as we near the finish line of the regulars it’s the old meat and potato offensive rebounds that are the main dish on an extremely varied plate.
A lot of this got written about in the last Kiwi Steve update. Have a geeze at that first. This is mostly an update as I begin to prepare the next one for later in the week (all things going to plan) because there’s really no doubt left that he’s going to end the season as the leader in the three major offensive rebounding measurements: per game, total, and percentage. His 26 minutes per game mean that the first of those two categories won’t be able to stand up with the best ever seasons for those stats even if it is the best this season. But the third stat. Yeah mate...
He’s actually risen a decent couple points over the last few games to get to 18.3% so it’s completely possible that he goes ahead of Andre Drummond and Larry Smith before the 82 games are over with. At the very least he should now log one of the ten best offensive rebounding percentage seasons the NBA has ever known.
That alone should be enough to get us through the rest of the regular season. Something to strive for as fans until the truly fun stuff starts... because I dunno about you but I’ve been impatient to see what this Grizzlies team can achieve in the postseason for months now and we’re finally almost there. Only a couple more weeks to go.
Also, it doesn’t happen often but after he broke that Z-Bo franchise record they let him to the post-game media stuff. Only one or two players get nominated for that in these zoom conference days and you can count on one hand how many times Adams has had that honour with Memphis. But whenever he talks, it pays to listen. Fascinating and hilarious quotes throughout...
ALW Prowess
Claudia Bunge has some genuine Abby Erceg energy about her. That was something I wrote after her last Footy Ferns appearance and it’s been multiplied by seeing her win another A-League title. Not someone who got singled out for credit amongst an admittedly hectic cast of contributors in what was an outstanding grand final but she definitely should have been. Watch that game back and it was “blocked by Bunge” this and “Bunge with the clearing header” that.
She was yet again immense as she has been all season for Melbourne Victory. There was a lovely moment in the presentation when current captain Lia Privitelli brought up injured captain Kayla Morrison on stage, Morrison having busted her knee in the first game of the season. Horrible injury and one which threatened to expose the Victory after that Morrison/Bunge combo has been so strong last term. But Claudia Bunge held things together alongside various CB contenders until finally they signed Brooke Hendrix and that did the trick.
Think about what responsibility fell upon the shoulders of a second year pro there. Then think about how emphatically Claudia Bunge lived up to it all and then helped lead that squad to a second consecutive championship. Some pretty superb players coming through the kiwi system these days.
New Zealanders to have won the A-League Women’s championship: Rebekah Stott (4), Annalie Longo (2), Emma Kete (2), Claudia Bunge (2), Katie Duncan.
Elite Eight Events
Outrageous run from Sam Waardenburg and his Miami University Hurricanes team over the NCAA national tournament recently. Waardenburg was the starting big man in his senior year (having redshirted early on) and he pretty much delivered the archetypal kiwi college output. Hard defence, good rebounding, occasional clutch shot-making, and immense cultural contributions.
Unfortunately that run came to an end this morning. Waardenburg was a big part of the programme’s first ever run to the final eight but up against the last remaining 1-seed, Kansas, they came up short. Not in the first half. First half they were amazing and took a 35-29 into half time. But then they got tonked in the second. Ended up losing 76-50 so do the math on that sucker. Waardenburg got himself into foul trouble which severely limited his output and then without him there wasn’t a lot of defence going on.
This from BBNZ: “Waardenburg will no doubt look back on his season as one to be happy about. He started 34 of Miami’s 35 games this season, while leading the team in 3-point shooting (making 41 from 98 at 42%) and blocked shots (47). The one-time Rangitoto College and Harbour standout finished his collegiate career with 711 points and 502 rebounds in 118 appearances – 69 as a starter. His record places him tenth on the New Zealand Men’s all-time NCAA Division I list for both points scored and games played. It will be intriguing to see where the 6’10” (208cm) forward begins his professional career.”
Indeed.