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Kiwi Ferns World Cup, Welly Nix Wahine squad notes, Kiwi-NRL junior standouts, Sean Marks x Brooky Nets,
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2022 Rugby League World Cup: Three Key Trends About Aotearoa Kiwis Footy (Rugby League)
2022 Rugby League World Cup: Aotearoa Kiwis vs Fiji Quarter-Final Preview (Rugby League)
Learning About Kiwi-NRL Juniors Keano Kini and Karl Oloapu (Rugby League)
2022 Women’s National League – Week 7 Review (Football)
2022 Men’s National League – Week 5 Review (Football)
Flying Kiwis – November 2 (Football)
2022 Kiwi-WBBL: So Much Fun (Cricket)
Scotty’s Word
Aotearoa's Kiwi Ferns won their first Rugby League World Cup game vs France (46-0) and now prepare to face Cook Islands on Monday morning. That should be another hefty win for the Kiwi Ferns and they will then face Australia in their last group stage game in an epic encounter prior to knockout footy. This is a hectic Aotearoa sporting phase and casual fans don't need to buzz about RLWC group stages, just tap in for the big knockout games.
That applies to Aotearoa Kiwis vs Fiji in the blokes tournament as that tournament enters the quarter-final stage. Everything you need to know can be found here.
Shanice Parker, Otesa Pule and Brianna Clark all played for Kiwi Ferns. This trio were surprise selections as they have all dabbled in Australian representative footy before popping up as Kiwi Ferns RLWC squad members. This throws up a funky nugget of Parker, Page and Raecene McGregor and Nita Maynard all representing Australia in Sevens rugby at some level; all four played for Kiwi Ferns vs France.
Throughout the winter I highlighted how Katelyn Vaha'akolo was playing rugby league and union in Auckland, even playing Farah Palmer Cup for Auckland. Vaha'akolo started on the wing for Kiwi Ferns and Mele Hufanga also played both codes this winter but didn't make the top-17 to face France.
Apii Nicholls didn't play her best footy for Gold Coast Titans in the recent NRLW season and was shifted from fullback to centre during that campaign. Nicholls was strong for Kiwi Ferns with a burst of speed and power at the defensive line, forming a layer of intrigue about her mahi along with fellow Kiwi Fern Titans Georgia Hale and Madison Bartlett.
Autumn-Rain Stephens-Daly plays on the wing for Newcastle Knights and missed the second half of their NRLW championship season which was a bummer. Stephens-Daly started in the halves alongside Raecene McGregor for Kiwi Ferns and this leaves Laishon Albert-Jones as halves depth.
Raecene McGregor is the best half in the world. That was the theme of NRLW footy this year and along with Hale's gritty ball-playing middle forward antics, these two could be among the best players at this RLWC.
No Kiwi Ferns note is as delightful as Mya Hill-Moana. Hill-Moana is a Taniwharau junior who has immense mana in her community, as well as being one of the best middle forwards in the world. Hill-Moana led Kiwi Ferns haka and like many of Aotearoa's sporting folk, she is an incredible youngster.
Sticking with rugby league, I am preparing for the 2022 'Kiwi-NRL Juniors Who Helped Australian Teams Make Finals' yarn. Here are the basics and incase you didn't know - the Kiwi-NRL takeover continues...
Queensland Mal Meninga Cup (U18)
Townsville
Jeremiah Matautia: Otara
Henry Teutau: Marist
Souths Logan
Nathaniel Tangimataiti: Ellerslie
Te Hurinui Twidle: Turangawaewae
Queensland Hastings Deering Colts (U21s)
Townsville
D'Jazirhae Pua'avase: Manurewa
Redcliffe (Warriors)
Ali Leiataua: Papatoetoe
Kina Kepu: Manurewa
Taniela Otukolo: Otahuhu
Demitric Sifakula: Otahuhu
Jacob Laban: Randwick
Valingi Kepu: Manurewa
(Zyon Maiu'u - Te Atatu)
NSW SG Ball (U19)
Roosters
Cassius Tia: Marist
Joshua Wong: Mt Albert Grammar
Benaiah Ioelu: Howick/Mt Albert
Salesi Foketi Manurewa
Panthers
Isaiya Katoa: Wellington
(Kyson Kingi - Kerikeri)
NSW Jersey Flegg (U21s)
Newcastle
Keanu Wainohu-Kemp: Tairawhiti
Panthers
William Fakatoumafi: Otahuhu
Daeon Amituanai: Whiti Te Ra
Isaiya Katoa: Wellington
Ilai Tuia: Randwick
NZ Warriors announced their SG Ball training squad. This squad consists of 36 players and features players from within the Warriors system, around Aotearoa as well as Australia.
Players who were in Future Warriors Selection vs Wests Tigers Cubs (June 29th)...
Sefanaia Cowley-Lupo, Patrick Moimoi, Sio Kali, William Piliu, Khalan Clyde, Dennis Sofara, Kayliss-Jesse Fatialofa, Selu Halasima, Rodney Tuipolotu-Vea, Siale Siulangapo, Jeriko Filipi-Talisau and Phranklyn Mano Le Mamea.
Most of those players also played in the recent NZRL U18 Schools vs Clubs fixture. Makaia Tafua, Ben Peni and Tanner Stowers-Smith didn't play Future Warriors but did play Schools vs Clubs. Warriors were also busy recruiting players from Australia and some of these lads had left Aotearoa to embark on their journey, while some have played all their footy in Australia.
Here is a general breakdown of the SG Ball training squad split between NZRL U18 Schools and Clubs teams, recruited from Auckland/Aotearoa and Australia...
NZ Clubs
Khalan Clyde - Whangarei
Makaia Tafua - Linwood (Christchurch)
Ben Peni - Papatoetoe
Phranklyn Mano Le Mamea - Otara
Raphael Sio - Pt Chev/Kelston Boys
Leka (Selu) Halasima - Mangere East
Kayliss-Jesse Fatialofa - Otara
NZ Schools
Rodyney Tuipolotu-Vea - De La Salle
Sio Kali - St Paul's /Pt Chev
William Piliu - St Paul's College/Mt Albert
From Auckland/NZ
Alvin Chong-Nee - Manurewa
Nathan John Salmon - Whangarei Boys
Caleb Meleisea - Southern Cross/Otara
Patrick Moimoi - De La Salle
Dennis Sofara - Pt Chev/St Paul's College
Presley Seumanu-Tigafua - St Peter's College
Denzel Hurt-Pickering - MAGS 1st 15
Etuate Fukofuka - St Peter's College
Francis Tuimauga - Mangere East
Sefanaia Cowley-Lupo - Bay Roskill
Ieti Samuelu - Otara
Siale Siulangapo - Manurewa
Jacob David Jnr Auloa (Jaydee Auloa) - Pt Chev
Siale Faeamani - St Peter's College
Jeriko Filipi-Talisau - Manurewa
Juelz Baker - MAGS
Kesa Silver - Aorere College
From Australia
Calum Pereira
Manihi Maurangi
Daytona-Lukiz Tupuhi-Taoho
Julian Drinnan
Harry Durbin
Te Hataterehapaerau Reid
Taimana Whakatau
Plunket Shield cricket enters the third round tomorrow with these fixtures...
Canterbury (1-0-1) vs Otago (1-0-1) - Hagley Oval
Central (1-0-1) vs Northern (0-1-1) - Saxton Oval
Wellington (1-1-0) vs Auckland (0-2-0) - Basin Reserve
Catch up on last round's action with this yarn about Canterbury and Central’s wins, plus the Northern vs Otago draw.
I have been pondering the domination of Tom Latham and Matt Henry in Aotearoa. Here are their stats from the last five summers of First-Class cricket in Aotearoa (Plunket Shield and Tests)...
Tom Latham (FC Career: 44avg)
2018/19: 641 runs @ 91.57avg, 3 x 100
2019/20: 520 runs @ 52avg, 2 x 100, 2 x 50
2020/21: 568 runs @ 47.33avg, 1 x 100, 4 x 50
2021/22: 545 runs @ 60.55avg, 3 x 100
2022/23: 336 runs @ 168avg, 2 x 100
Matt Henry (FC Career: 24avg)
2018/19: 25w @ 23.76avg
2019/20: 18w @ 32.22avg
2020/21: 21w @ 22.71avg
2021/22: 35w @ 17.11avg
2022/23: 14w @ 11.14avg
Two of Aotearoa's best spinners at at the T20 World Cup and as they are likely to be busy with lots of Blackcaps white ball cricket, I'm curious about the domestic spinners who want to command attention. Here are the notable spinners and their mahi from the Plunket Shield so far...
Michael Rippon: 7w @ 22.85avg/3.73rpo (FC: 34.53avg/3.5rpo)
Will Somerville: 7w @ 24.71avg/2.73rpo (FC: 29.57avg/2.63rpo)
Adithya Ashok: 5w @ 21.2avg/2.6rpo
Joe Walker: 5w @ 40.8avg/2.72rpo (FC: 38.32avg/2.97rpo)
Theo van Woerkom: 4w @ 13.5avg/1.83rpo (FC: 37.12avg/2.97rpo)
Rachin Ravindra: 4w @ 37.5avg/3.48rpo (FC: 51.62avg/3.49rpo)
Ajaz Patel: 2w @ 71.5avg/3.17rpo (FC: 32.59avg/3.11rpo)
FIH Pro League continues with another round of Black Sticks Men's games in India. Aotearoa face India tomorrow morning and then Spain on Sunday morning. These two games are all about learning and after two losses to start FIHPL, we will learn more about how competitive Aotearoa can be in this competition. Aotearoa lost by one goal in both games and Spain beat India by one goal, so don't cling to those first up losses too tightly.
Sean Marks is a kiwi bloke running an NBA team. We started our podcast yesterday with some chat about Sean Marks (GM of Brooklyn Nets) and I have been observing how Marks has facilitated the Nets culture. Compare this to City Kickboxing coach Eugene Bareman who has a different role to Marks, but also deals with sporting superstars. Below is an interview with coach Bareman about their recent training camp for next weekend’s monster Kiwi-UFC event (UFC 281). Two quotes paint a picture…
"We felt that it was time to make them understand whether they believed it or not, at the end of the day you're just a piece of shit like the rest of us"
"It fractured the camp a little bit at different stages, but I quickly reminded everybody that ... I don't care"
The mana of the Bareman whanau always needs to be celebrated. Sarai Bareman is FIFA's Chief Women's Football Officer and Eugene is the lead coach for CKB. Eugene is actually more similar to Marks than it may seem as Eugene does a lot of mahi with UFC in booking fights and managing fighters to some extent.
Brooklyn Nets couldn’t spot an Aotearoa sporting vibe if it was right in front of them doing haka. Steven Adams at Memphis Grizzlies on the other hand are all about a winning culture, identity and mana. NZ Breakers have come good again as they embraced kiwi ideals. Aotearoa Kiwis rebuilt their turangawaewae under Michael Maguire. CKB is one of the best Mixed Martial Arts teams in the world and this thread of Aotearoa culture/mana is a huge aspect of their success.
Musical jam…
Wildcard’s Notebook
The Wellington Phoenix have announced Milly Clegg as their final signing for the women’s team in year two. 17yo Clegg joins on an amateur deal in order to preserve her eligibility for USA universities if she chooses to go down that path in the future. She’s still only finishing off Year 12 at high school so yeah, makes sense to keep the options open.
Side note: I’m not convinced the NCAA route is best for our top prospects – initially it’s a great standard and you’re getting an education out of it which is huge... but it’s a four year thing and by the fourth year you’re like 21 or 22 and still playing in what’s effectively a youth league meaning you’ve fallen well behind the pros in Europe.
Plus it’s not even a good pathway into the NWSL because those teams continue to prove that they don’t really want to sign non-Americans outside of the top few picks. Daisy Cleverley and Jacqui Hand are regular internationals and were ignored completely at the last draft. Cleverley instead went on to sign with the reigning champions of Denmark while Hand just had a brilliant season in the Finland league, including winning the cup competition.
Heaps of kiwi women head to NCAA schools... but the only one who’s ever been drafted was Katie Bowen in 2016. Clegg’s good enough to buck that trend yet she’s also probably better suited heading to Europe after a couple of years in the A-League. The ALW has a strong record of developing players who go on to do exactly that so she’s in the right place. The best Aussie players are getting games at her age. Love seeing the ambition to get amongst it as soon as possible from MC who is almost eight months younger than the youngest member of last year’s squad was at the corresponding time (Zoe McMeeken).
More on Milly Clegg in some other format. What this signing also means is that the 22-player squad is all locked in. That’s two more than last year thanks to an increase in scholarship spots from two to four. There has also been a decrease in the Aussie quota from seven to five. Here’s the notebook of ideas...
13 out of 22 players are returning from last season, those that aren’t are: Grace Jale (Canberra), Talitha Kramer (Brisbane), Cushla Rue (Western Sydney), Jordan Jasnos, Hannah Jones, Kelli Brown, and Annabel Martin. Jale and Brown being the two kiwis who didn’t get re-signed. Jale chose to leave, Brown just didn’t quite make the cut... but has been scoring in bundles for Northern Rovers in the National League.
The new additions are: Paige Satchell, Betsy Hassett, Marisa van der Meer, Michaela Robertson, Claudia Cicco, Michaela Foster (schol), Georgia Candy (schol), Emma Rolston, and Milly Clegg. Three of them are regular Football Ferns selections, two of those being regular starters: Satchell, Hassett, Rolston. Van der Meer and Robertson were part of the extended travelling Olympics squad though haven’t been capped. Foster, Clegg, and Candy have all had strong youth international stints. And Cicco, the only new Aussie signed, has been involved with the Young Matildas too.
Those five Aussie spots have been filled with more Kiwis than Aussies, technically speaking. Michaela Robertson and Zoe McMeeken are full-blooded NZers with either one Aussie parent (MR) or they happened to be born over there (ZM) and can thus both claim passports. Brianna Edwards was born and raised in Oz but is a dual national who represented NZ at the most recent U20 World Cup. Claudia Cicco and Isabel Gomez are the exceptions.
Alyssa Whinham has gone from a scholarship deal to a full pro deal. Te Reremoana Walker has gone the other way, accepting a scholarship gig after not making the cut for the pros (given some of the new signings). Charlotte Lancaster has been given a second scholarship deal.
The current ages of the 22 players as of this very day (4 Nov 2022): 17, 18, 18, 18, 18, 19, 19, 19, 19, 20, 20, 20, 21, 21, 23, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 32 – though two of the 18 years olds have birthdays in the coming days.
There are five Football Ferns internationals in the squad, ranging from 135-cap Betsy Hassett to Mackenzie Barry who only debuted within the last few months. Emma Rolston, Kate Taylor, and Paige Satchell are the others. Three new signings and the other two got their debut caps as Phoenix players.
Several others from this squad have been involved in Ferns squads but haven’t been capped yet. Whinham, Robertson, van der Meer, and Lily Alfeld. Plus Grace Wisnewski has just been called up for her first squad.
Unlike last year when only four players had previous ALW experience, this time there are only six who haven’t played in the A-League before. And one of them is Betsy Hassett who has played professionally in half the countries of Europe. The others are Robertson, Cicco, Foster, Candy, and Clegg.
However the top ALW goal scorer in the squad is Paige Satchell with 3. Satchell and Alfeld are tied for the most ALW career games with 25 each.
There’s also been news this morning, confirmation of expected news, that Katie Bowen has signed with Melbourne City. She was granted an early release from her expiring North Carolina Courage contract in order to make that work... not that it should’ve been a problem given that she only made two NWSL appearances for them in 2022.
The club announcement tells that they’d tried to sign her on a couple of occasions in the past but that now is “the right time”. Which it absolutely is. Been saying for months that given the fact that NWSL players often play in Oz during their offseason and that Bowen wasn’t getting minutes for NCC and that there’s also a World Cup on the horizon... an A-League stint for KB was a no-brainer. And probably not with the Wellington Phoenix either since we wanna see her at the highest level possible, competing for the title. Melbourne City offer that. She’ll play alongside Hannah Wilkinson, effectively replacing Rebekah Stott in the line-up.
Katie Bowen: “I’d spoken to Rado a fair bit over the past couple of seasons, but it’s always been a bit hard because the A-League Women season was in my off-season and that’s generally family time. With the World Cup coming next year, I need to be playing consistent games, so it felt to me like the perfect time to make the move and I’m really happy to be here at City now. I always thought of City as an incredibly successful club and have admired the style of play. Stotty of course played here for years and Wilkie too, plus there’s been some other Kiwis on the team and they’ve always had said great things so it was really enticing for me to join City.”
This is where we now stand with NZ players across the rest of the ALW:
Adelaide United: None
Brisbane Roar: None
Canberra United: Grace Jale & Rebecca Burrows
Melbourne City: Hannah Wilkinson & Katie Bowen
Melbourne Victory: Claudia Bunge
Newcastle Jets: None
Perth Glory: Liz Anton
Sydney FC: Anna Green
Western Sydney Wanderers: Malia Steinmetz
Western United: None
Newcastle, Brisbane, Western & Perth have used all their visa spots already, although there’s always the dual-national (with an Aussie passport) option. The rest still have room to add to things with three more weeks until the season kicks off. Last season saw eight NZers get minutes for Australian clubs, tying a record that was also equalled the previous year (it happened in 2012-13 too). We’re at eight again as things stand, assuming everyone who is signed gets to play (which they all should).
The most games played by a kiwi in the ALW is Rebekah Stott with exactly 100. Ally Green, dual-nat, is next with 48 appearances. Then Emma Kete (39), Annalie Longo (37), and Marlies Oostdam (29). Claudia Bunge is likely to crack the top three by the end of this campaign – which could be her last before heading to Europe.
Sean Marks is at it again, this time suspending Kyrie Irving after he repeatedly failed to do what needed doing and simply say “yeah, my bad, I’m sorry” about his anti-Semitic movie retweet.
I don’t think that Kyrie is anti-Semitic, simply that he’s latched onto this idea about Black Hebrews and found a film that seemed to back that up (and then lacked the critical thinking to realise how flawed/dodgy/offensive the rest of the film’s ideas were).
But at this point it’s not even about that. It’s about the fact that this could have gone away much sooner if he’d put the flames out. Even if it means taking a compromise upon his ego/beliefs. Just say the words you need to say to stop people asking about it all and it won’t be a recurring headline over and over again. He didn’t do that, now he’s suspended.
Remember that the Brooklyn Nets already didn’t give Kyrie Irving his multi-year extension in the offseason. Irving then picked up his player option instead but he’s a free agent after this season and there’s no reason whatsoever to think that Sean Marks wants him back. The vaccine holdout thing last season was a big scandal and, more importantly to Marks, a huge detriment to his team. There was his unscheduled hiatus the year before. There have been injuries. Constant dramas stemming from his media interactions (both press conferences and social media). There’s also very little trade value in his current contract. It’s not impossible that Kyrie Irving has played his last game for the Nets. I suspect he hasn’t... but a bloke who wouldn’t get vaccinated may also not want to do the required “remedial measures” either.
We talked a bit about Sean Marks at the start of yesterday’s podcast (links at the top of the page) and I tried to defend him by pointing out that there has been more of a hardline approach from him since last season in trying to rebuild the culture that he kinda let slide by overly embracing the whims of free agent signings Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. Then again the expected hiring of Ime Udoka as the next head coach while he’s currently suspended from the Boston Celtics doesn’t suggest the drama will completely go away without Kyrie Irving though. It’s all very strange.
Men’s National League – Team of the Week #5
GK – Scott Basalaj (Wellington Olympic) – Hard to pick a goalie in a week where every team conceded at least twice.. Bas gets the nod simply because he made the best saves. Also I s’pose that Olympic game was still close for quite awhile making his efforts more crucial. If it wasn’t him it woulda been Mack Waite (AUFC).
RB – Tiahn Manuel (Miramar Rangers) – Cheating here because he played midfield for Rangers and had a wonderful game, putting in the miles and winning plenty of tackles against a WeeNix team that tends to operate pretty sharply in those areas. Couldn’t fit him into the midfield three but he has played fullback before so this’ll do. Not like there’s an abundance of defensive options to go with – the alternative pick was gonna be attacking wing-back Jesse Randall of Welly Olympic.
CB – Liam Wood (Miramar Rangers) – Something about Rangers switching to a back four has really helped them. Doubling up the wings, extra man going forward... dunno exactly what it is but the most impressive thing has been how instantly comfortable that re-jigged backline has been. Wood was superb in helping Rangers to their first win of the season.
CB – Kurtis Mogg (Auckland United) – Had to pick a representative of that Auckland Utd defence after their stunning 3-2 win over Auckland City amidst thunderstorms at Keith Hay Park. Only team to beat City this year and they’ve done it twice. Couldn’t account for two supreme Emiliano Tade goals from outside the area but other than that it was full commitment, physical and impassioned, winning headers and holding positions, shutting down one of the most dangerous teams out there. Moggy was the pick of the back three thus here he is... but this selection is a shout out to them all. Billy Jones and Ross Haviland. Plus Harshe Raniga off the bench too.
LB – Andrew Blake (Auckland United) – Involved in a couple of goals, including the assist for Oli Fay’s, and defended like a champ on the wing. Covered a heap of ground. Sharp and decisive with the ball. Great decision making. All in all it was essential mahi within a wonderful AUFC victory.
CM – Michael Den Heijer (Auckland United) – If you’re planning on challenging Auckland City then you’re going to want someone who can sit outside the penalty area as a CDM and disrupt things… as MDH did time and time again in the so-called Dominion Road Derby. Especially in that second half. It was the type of performance that you almost don’t notice at first, then when you do you can’t possibly avoid it. Immense.
CM – Luke Jorgensen (Birkenhead United) – Scored a mean penalty but also served up one of those enjoyably combative and energetic midfield displays that we’re getting very used to from him. Love the way that Birkenhead play with complete buy-in for each other. Jorgo exemplifies it.
CM – Josh Galletly (Melville United) – Didn’t expect a team that had scored twice in four games to suddenly score five in fifty minutes but that’s what Melville did away to Christchurch Utd. Galletly was a key part of that, instigating things from midfield then chipping in with a banger of a free kick for the fifth goal. Dude’s only 19 years old.
FW – Dane Schnell (Birkenhead United) – Bro scored a hat-trick, the first hatty of the MNL. He’s now equal top of the golden boot standings with Gianni Bouzoukis who are both on five. Schnelly’s got this habit of getting into the right places. He works hard and stays with the play. Plus he can finish with the best of them as his first goal against Cashy Tech proved. He may have come to the attention of a lot of folks as defensive midfielder with the U20s team but he’s very much a striker these days.
FW – Gianni Bouzoukis (Wellington Olympic) – Another goal, two assists. The goal comes with the territory for a number nine like this dude but the assists are especially cool because he’s been doing a lot of selfless work dropping deeper and facilitating all season and here there was a bit of extra reward for that. Edges out Ryen Lawrence who scored a brace for Melville... but when there are 32 goals scored in five games not every forward is gonna fit in the TOW, sadly.
FW – Sam Mason-Smith (Miramar Rangers) – His and Hamish Watson’s hold-up play was lovely, giving the WeeNix a Men vs Boys encounter. But also he scored one of the best goals you’ll see for a long time. Outrageous chip over a 6’5 goalie from beside his own team’s bench on the sideline about 40 metres out. One of two goals he scored in Rangers’ win.
