The Conglomeration
Flying Kiwis transfer window primer, Blackcaps in 2024, Super Smash notes,
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Five Things From The Wellington Phoenix's Return To Winning Ways vs Newcastle Jets (Football)
2024/25 Super Smash Scout: Max Chu, Bree Illing & Upset Wins (Cricket)
Regular Programming Resumes For New Zealand's White Ferns After 2024 Rose Bowl (Cricket)
2024/25 New Zealand vs Sri Lanka T20 Series Preview (Cricket)
Taking Stock Of New Zealand's 2024 Test Cricket Transition & Future Forecast (Cricket)
2025 New Zealand Women Warriors Signings Tracker: Third Wave (Rugby League)
Five Funky New Zealand Warriors Storylines Heading Into The 2025 NRL Season (Rugby League)
2024 Women’s National League – Team of the Season (Football)
This New Zealand Breakers Season Is Capitulating Before Our Very Eyes (Basketball)
Scotty’s Word
Number of Blackcaps used in 2024 by format (before second T20I vs Sri Lanka)…
Test: 19
ODI: 13
T20I: 29
2024 Blackcaps T20I Stats
Batting
Glenn Phillips: 331 runs @ 33avg/127sr
Daryl Mitchell: 256 runs @ 42.6avg/162sr
Mark Chapman: 217 runs @ 18avg/130sr
Michael Bracewell: 140 runs @ 20avg/123sr
Mitchell Santner: 101 runs @ 14avg/108sr
Tim Robinson: 97 runs @ 13.8avg/126sr
Rachin Ravindra: 94 runs @ 18.8avg/124sr
Zak Foulkes: 34 runs @ 11avg/142sr
Matt Henry: 14 runs @ 7avg/67sr
Jacob Duffy: 8 runs @ 8avg/73sr
Mitch Hay: 3 runs @ 1avg/37sr
Bowling
Mitchell Santner: 12w @ 30avg/7rpo
Matt Henry: 9w @ 21.8avg/8.5rpo
Zak Foulkes: 7w @ 22avg/8.3rpo
Michael Bracewell: 6w @ 38avg/8.4rpo
Jacob Duffy: 4w @ 34avg/7.6rpo
Glenn Phillips: 4w @ 6.7avg/5.5rpo
Rachin Ravindra: 2w @ 11avg/5.7rpo
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Otago Sparks Super Smash stats
Batting
Polly Inglis: 58 runs @ 58avg/107sr
Suzie Baets: 58 runs @ 29avg/107sr
Felicity Robertson: 28 runs @ 14avg/82sr
Bella James: 24 runs @ 12avg/133sr
Caitlin Blakely: 24 runs @ 24avg/83sr
Eden Carson: 10 runs @ 125sr
Olivia Gain: 10 runs @ 111sr
Bowling
Eden Carson: 5w @ 9avg/5.7rpo
Kirstie Gordon: 4w @ 9avg/4.8rpo
Emma Black: 3w @ 14avg/5.5rpo
Hayley Jensen: 2w @ 23avg/5.8rpo
Felicity Robertson: 1w @ 13avg/6.5rpo
Anna Browning: 2ov @ 7rpo
Suzie Bates: 2ov @ 10rpo
Molly Loe: 2ov @ 10.5rpo
Max Chu this season
Plunket Shield: 360 runs @ 60avg/50sr
Ford Trophy: 157 runs @ 39avg/103sr
Super Smash: 82 runs @ 82avg/178sr
Otago Volts Super Smash bowling stats
Dean Foxcroft: 6w @ 6avg/5rpo
Andrew Hazeldine: 3w @ 12avg/5.2rpo
Ben Lockrose: 3w @ 16avg/8.1rpo
Matt Bacon: 3w @ 16avg/6.9rpo
Mason Clarke: 2w @ 22avg/9rpo
Musical jam…
Wildcard’s Notebook
It’s the end of the year which means the start of a new year which means a January transfer window is about to open over in Europe. Once upon a time, it was exciting to dream about what possible transfers might be about to go down when these periods arrived. Nowadays it’s not a dream, it’s a reality. There are always big deals. There are too many quality kiwi ballers to be contained. Don’t consider this an exhaustive list or anything, I’ll be tracking all this in these newsletters and in the Flying Kiwis articles throughout the month, these are more like some initiatory thoughts to get the ball rolling...
Tyler Bindon just scored a match-winning bicycle kick for Reading FC, possibly to say farewell. His comments after the game regarding transfer status were along the lines of “whatever happens, happens” which only adds fuel to the fire that he’s on his way out. Entering the last six months of his contract, it’s now or never if RFC want a transfer fee and there are already several English Championship clubs scrapping it out in the tabloid rumours (Blackburn Rovers are most likely, followed by Hull City, Coventry City, Watford, and Norwich City). Big things are coming here.
Liberato Cacace is also entering the final six months of his Empoli contract and has been getting pretty good minutes lately, impressing with his performances in several positions. Surely there’s a new contract in it for him. Otherwise, well, he’s free to start negotiating with foreign clubs.
Abby Erceg is a free agent after leaving Racing Louisville in what sounds like her own decision. She’s playing too well to consider retirement so most likely she wants to join a contending NWSL team and try win another championship. Watch this space.
Alex Greive’s been released by Bohemians (Ireland) after struggling to find starting opportunities this year. Greive was previously pretty good for St Mirren in the Scottish Prem, albeit without scoring enough goals, when he first went to Europe but has kinda gotten less effective each time he’s stepped down a level.
Meikayla Moore joined the Calgary Wild in the inaugural Northern Super League season (Canada) a few weeks back, will we get any more New Zealanders in amongst? Also, what ever happened to Ria Percival… did she just retire without telling anyone? She’d be a decent get for the Canadian league.
Moses Dyer has left the Canadian Premier League with local reports suggesting he’s already agreed terms with a European club. He turned down interest from multiple CPL sides so this could be something good. Likewise, Jay Herdman was released by Vancouver Whitecaps but could choose to stay in Canada with Cavalry FC, whom he finished 2024 with on loan, in order to play some CONCACAF Champions Cup.
Seems likely that Matt Dibley-Dias will be recalled by Fulham after getting constantly overlooked on loan at Northampton Town. There’s chat that Ben Waine might also be summoned back to Plymouth Argyle – which is backed up by his being left out of Mansfield Town’s last two squads (the most recent was actually the game in which Bindon scored his overhead kick). Other possible loanees include Henry Gray (Ipswich), Scott Morris (Stoke), and Marley Leuluai (Burnley).
Ollie Whyte’s contract with FC Haka (Finland) is about to end. He had to trial to get re-signed last time so we’ll see what happens there.
Michael Fitzgerald is out of contract with Albirex Niigata (Japan) though at his age it’s probably more about re-signing or retiring rather than going anywhere else.
On the domestic front, Stipe Ukich turns 18 in about a week and that should open the door for him to try his luck over in Europe, probably in Croatia. Kinda feels like he already has something lined up. Oscar Faulds very nearly didn’t play National League this year, it took not one but two pro deals in Scandinavia to collapse for him to return. He did and he was awesome and now he’s back trialling over there and surely it’ll be third time lucky.
For the women, we tend to see local players using the A-League as a stepping stone before trying Europe but there are always exceptions. Perhaps the scouts have been tracking Zoe Benson’s assists. The main focus for domestic women’s footballers will be when Auckland FC begin announcing players. We’re already getting rumours of head coaches and once that’s sorted the squad building begins.
Oh yeah and somebody please free Bill Tuiloma from Charlotte FC... and also tell Atlanta United to sign Ronan Wynne on proper terms after drafting him.
An All Whites Eleven Of Uncapped Players
GK – Kees Sims (GAIS)
RB – Corban Piper (Wellington Phoenix)
CB – George Stanger (Ayr United)
CB – Isaac Hughes (Wellington Phoenix)
LB - Matt Sheridan (Wellington Phoenix)
CM – Matt Dibley-Dias (Fulham)
CM – Lachlan Bayliss (Newcastle Jets)
CM – Owen Parker-Price (Torslanda)
FW – Jay Herdman (Cavalry FC)
FW – Ollie Whyte (FC Haka)
FW – Oscar Faulds (Napier City Rovers)
A Football Ferns Eleven Of Uncapped Players
GK – Una Foyle (Cork City)
RB – Zoe McMeeken (Wellington Phoenix)
CB – Jana Niedermayr (Union Kleinmünchen)
CB – Olivia Page (Sheffield United)
LB – Lara Wall (Wellington Phoenix)
CM – Chloe Knott (Auckland United)
CM – Emma Pijnenburg (Feyenoord)
CM – Alyssa Whinham (Wellington Phoenix)
FW – Kiara Bercelli (Sampdoria)
FW – Kelli Brown (Perth Glory)
FW – Emma Main (Wellington Phoenix)
(The women’s one was a lot easier to select than the blokes, probably because Darren Bazely used the Nations Cup this year to exhaust a lot of the top uncapped options)
Top Kiwi Scorers in NBL25
Sam Waardenburg (Cairns) – 14.8 points per game
Tyrell Harrison (Brisbane) – 13.6 ppg
Sam Mennenga (NZB) – 11.9 ppg
Rob Loe (Melbourne) – 10.9 ppg
Shea Ili (Melbourne) – 10.0 ppg
Tai Webster (Perth) – 7.9 ppg
Flynn Cameron (Melbourne) – 7.3 ppg
Reuben Te Rangi (Tasmania) – 5.2 ppg
Max Darling (NZB) – 4.3 ppg
Tohi Smith-Milner – 4.3 ppg
Would ya look at that, the four top scoring New Zealanders in the Aussie basketball league are all big men… although they’re doing it in different ways. Waardenburg’s an outside shooting threat whereas Harrison is all about doing the hard yards in the paint. Sam Mennenga is somewhere in between, he does have a jump shot but he’s much better at muscling his way to the rim. Rob Loe does a bit of everything but his three-point shooting is largely what sets him apart. Mennenga’s been on the wobble during the Breakers losing streak, as you’d expect (Tacko Fall shares his position, after all), while Mennenga’s just come back from a couple of games out injured. But Harrison and Loe have been in excellent form during December.
Speaking of which, Parker Jackson-Cartright’s suspension has come down as a five-gamer. The Breakers chose not to appeal. Such is the conglomeration of fixtures at the moment, he’ll actually only miss around two weeks... but during that the team faces Cairns Taipans on New Year’s Eve with the Breakers nursing an 8-game losing streak and the Taipans nursing a 14-game losing streak... but the Breakers are without their best player and the source of most of their offence, while they also have a strange situation at centre and have been getting torched at the perimeter throughout this losing run. Stands to reason that Sam Waardenburg could have a big one, same as how Rob Loe sparked his recent form with a 25-point night against the Breakers. At least they’re doing something for kiwi basketball in that case.
Here’s a treat for the end of the year (maybe). We try to chip in with a few musical recommendations now and then on The Niche Cache. There’s not always a heap of time to write that stuff but we do serve up some a batch of hot new tunes most Fridays and each month we try to get a roundup of our favourite new albums. I used to do my own personal top ten albums of the year article too but there’s not enough time to commit to that these days so that’s fallen by the wayside as an article format, but here’s the 2024 list for those of you playing along at home...
Nick’s Top Ten Albums of 2024
Johnny Blue Skies/Sturgill Simpson – Passage Du Desir
Waxahatchee – Tigers Blood
MJ Lenderman – Manning Fireworks
Earth Tongue – Great Haunting
Kendrick Lamar - GNX
Naima Bock – Below A Massive Dark Land
Troy King – Leatherman & the Mojave Green
David Nance – David Nance & Mowed Sound
Billy Strings – Highway Prayers
DARTZ – Dangerous Day To Be A Cold One
Additional compensatory shoutouts to:
Rosali – Bite Down
Etran de L’Air – 100% Sahara Guitar
Castle Rat – Into the Realm
Fazerdaze – Soft Power
Hurray For The Riff Raff – The Past Is Still Alive
Father John Misty – Mahashmashana
Tyler The Creator - Chromakopia
Cindy Lee – Diamond Jubilee
Itasca – Imitation of War
Kate Bollinger – Songs From A Thousand Frames Of Mind
Meatbodies – Flora Ocean Tiger Blood
Mdou Moctar – Funeral For Justice
Nilufer Yanya – My Method Actor
Shabaka – Perceive Its Beauty
Sierra Ferrell – Trail of Flowers
Eat it, Pitchfork. Happy new year to all (I’ll do movies next time).
Musical Jam...