The Distribution Hub
Aotearoa at the FIBA U19 WC, Warriors lost to Broncos, Flying Kiwis Transfer Tracker, Kiwis in NBA Summer League, NZ-A women's cricket & more
Scotty’s Word
Tough weekend for NZ Warriors wrestling as they were battered by Broncos and their wrestling coach Kai Kara-France was submitted in the UFC. NZW have now had two losses in a row in which they lost the collision, had no ruck control, and struggled to match the fizz of big crowds.
NZW have a bye next weekend so it's best to let things simmer, which won't be comfortable for James Fisher-Harris and the team. A few weeks ago I was pondering how NZW played a Fisher-Harris style of footy when winning (set for set grind, ruck control, patience etc) and now we have a team led by Fisher-Harris that has been beaten up in back to back losses.
NZW had 44% of the footy vs Panthers and 46% vs Broncos. Allowing Panthers to control the game is a recipe for losing and giving a powerful Broncos team so much footy ain't going to work either. Sprinkle in completion rates below 80% and NZW have made major detours from their winning mahi in these two losses.
Losses that have come during the State of Origin period. There doesn’t seem to be any notable boost for NZW during Origin. Here's their record for the period starting the weekend before the first Origin game and the weekend after the third game during the two Andys era...
2023: 5-2
2024: 2-4
2025: 2-3
I am excited for the next wave of NZW footy though even if they have byes in NRL and NSW Cup next weekend. NRLW starts next weekend and I am eager to see how injuries in the NRL team can lead to a freshen up.
What's the point of having Te Maire Martin and Tanah Boyd grinding in NSW Cup for most of the season? Experienced depth players who can step in without fuss.
Martin is a better distribution hub than Luke Metcalf and Boyd is more of a pure halfback. Different styles to Metcalf plus Taine Tuaupiki maybe covering the loss of Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad? NZW can spice up what had become a stale style of footy.
Samuel Healey is in this category as well. His attacking ability could make them less predictable, especially if he is packaged with Tuaupiki.
Healey has offloads, tackle breaks and kicks in most NSW Cup games this season. Also getting middle forward reps when youngin Makaia Tafua plays which adds to his NRL bench value.
Need more juice on the flanks? Sio Kali is almost ready…
I explore the NSW Cup and Jersey Flegg Cup wins vs Sea Eagles in more depth for paid subscribers and the Patreon whanau. Tuaupiki was sensational in NSW Cup as usual and his speed/play-making combination can make NZW better.
Taine Tuaupiki vs Sea Eagles: 27 runs - 257m @ 9.5m/run, 2 linebreak assists, 1 try assist, 13 tackle breaks, 4 offloads, 2 kicks, 3 tackles @ 75%.
Below is my best attempt at an NZWW top-17. They have player profiles online now with Michaela Brake listed as a winger and Patricia Maliepo in the halves. Wait and see but that does streamline my ponderings…
Fullback: Apii Nicholls
Wingers: Michaela Brake, Lavinia Tauhalaliku,
Centres: Emmanita Paki, Tysha Ikenasio
Halves: Emily Curtain, Patricia Maliepo
Middles: Mya Hill-Moana, Harata Butler, Laishon Albert-Jones
Edges: Matekino Gray, Shakira Baker
Hooker: Capri Paekau
Bench: Lydia Turua-Quedley, Felila Kia, Lavinia Kita, Maarire Puketapu
Kiwi-NRL Broncos vs Warriors…
Josiah Karapani (Otahuhu): 80mins, 1 try, 16 runs - 150 @ 9.3m/run, 2 linebreaks, 2 tackle breaks, 1 offload, 3 tackles @ 60%
Jordan Riki (Hornby): 80mins, 12 runs - 97m @ 8m/run, 2 tackle breaks, 38 tackles @ 92%
Xavier Willison (Whatawhata): 36mins, 15 runs - 168m @ 11.2m/run, 1 tackle break, 13 tackles @ 76%
Broncos are 3-0 with Karapani as winger and 1-4 with Deine Mariner (Marist) as winger. Their mahi this season...
Karapani: 3 games, 5 tries, 6 linebreaks, 150m/game, 90% tackling
Mariner: 8 games, 3 tries, 2 try assists, 4 linebreaks, 117m/game, 86% tackling
Karapani is eligible for Samoa and is playing his way into their top-tier squad. Samoa's depth has been boosted in recent weeks: Benaiah Ioelu (Tangaroa College), Simi Sasagi (Ellerslie), Ata Mariota (Manurewa), Elijah Salesa-Leaumoana (Mangere East) finding form/regular footy along with Karapani. Jacob Laban (Te Aroha), Demitric Vaimauga (Otahuhu) and Ali Leiataua (Papatoetoe) are also available for Samoa.
Riki is in a funky battle with Laban for NZ Kiwis edge forward mahi. Laban's also Maori so he may lean into NZ Kiwis over Samoa. Willison should get an NZ Kiwis debut in the next international window and I'll keep throwing up Storm forward Alec MacDonald as a sneaky option.
MacDonald is a small forward for Storm and he may be the fastest middle forward in the NRL. NZ Kiwis have depth in this role with Phoenix Crossland playing their consistently for Knights and Erin Clark doing the job for NZW.
Casey McLean has found a groove with Panthers at centre, but Matthew Timoko and Sebastian Kris have been awesome all season. They are currently ranked ahead of Rocco Berry and Leiataua in my NZ Kiwis centre mixer.
The one-day portion of NZ-A Women's tour of England finished with their biggest loss. After two close losses, the third was a stinker.
Game tahi: loss by 6 runs
England A: 297/4
NZ-A: 291/9
Game rua: loss by 2 runs
England A: 286/8
NZ-A: 284
Game toru: loss by 6 wickets
NZ-A: 129
England A: 130/4
NZ-A vs England A One-Dayer Stats
Batting
Georgia Plimmer: 114 runs @ 38avg/87sr, 1 x 100
Bella James: 109 runs @ 36.3avg/91sr, 1 x 50
Izzy Gaze: 81 runs @ 81avg/137sr, 1 x 50
Emma McLeod: 77 runs @ 25.6avg/69sr
Jess Watkin: 61 runs @ 20.3avg/87sr
Flora Devonshire: 59 runs @ 19.6avg/125sr, 1 x 50
Hannah Rowe: 40 runs @ 13.3avg/73sr
Polly Inglis: 34 runs @ 17avg/121sr
Emma Black: 33 runs @ 89sr
Izzy Sharp: 29 runs @ 9.6avg/59sr
Molly Penfold: 14 runs @ 7avg/93sr
Nensi Patel: 10 runs @ 5avg/33sr
Amie Hucker: 3 runs @ 3avg/150sr
Bree Illing: 1 run @ 50sr
Bowling
Bree Illing: 6w @ 19.1avg/6rpo
Jess Watkin: 3w @ 38avg/4.9rpo
Emma Black: 2w @ 42avg/4.9rpo
Hannah Rowe: 2w @ 49avg/4.6rpo
Nensi Patel: 1w @ 69avg/5rpo
Flora Devonshire: 1w @ 82avg/6.3rpo
Molly Penfold: 10ov @ 6.6rpo
Amie Hucker: 9ov @ 8.3rpo
I have some winners and losers for NZ-A from this series for the generous folks funding all of our mahi as part of the Patreon whanau or with paid Substack subs. I have also listed some youngsters I'm quietly excited about in the men's domestic cricket circuit after a busy weekend of typing…
Funky Movers From The First Round Of 2025/26 Domestic Cricket Contracts
Breaking Down The Blackcaps T20I Squad For Tri-Series In Zimbabwe
The Basics For Players Entering The 2025/26 Domestic Cricket Contract Tier (First Round)
Bree Illing was the best player for NZ-A so she deserves her own spotlight. 2w @ 5.1rpo followed by 4w @ 7.1rpo and didn't play the third game. Only NZ-A bowler with 4+ wickets, only bowler who averaged below 35 and leading wicket-taker for both teams. Updated basics for Illing...
ODI: 29.2avg/4.1rpo
T20I: 24.5avg/7rpo
LA: 26avg/4.8rpo
T20: 30.6avg/6.1rpo
Here are the lads playing this round of County Championship with their mahi after day one...
Jimmy Neesham: Durham - 11ov, 1w @ 5rpo
Matt Henry: Somerset
Henry Nicholls: Worcestershire - 0 off 12
Tom Latham: Warwickshire - 31 runs
Logan van Beek: Leicestershire - 20ov @ 4.4rpo
Tim Robinson: Northamptonshire
Blair Tickner: 22ov, 2w @ 3.7rpo
Musical jam…
Wildcard’s Notebook
If you’ve been tracking the NZ NBL this season then you already know that Aotearoa basketball has some seriously talented youngsters breaking through at the moment. If you’re one who goes a little deeper then you would have known that even before the season began thanks to the excellent performances of the NZ squads at last year’s U17 World Cup (fourth) and U18 Asia Cup (second).
Well, currently ongoing is the FIBA U19 World Cup and the NZ squad is basically a mixture of those two groups. There’s a whole written preview over here if you want to acclimatise yourself with the names involved. As for the tournament itself, we’re two games in and the kiwis have won both of them so if you weren’t already hugely excited then you should be now. A quick recap of how things have been tracking over in Switzerland…
Game Tahi: Won 77-72 vs Argentina
The lads could hardly have started worse, finding themselves in a 13-0 hole after a few minutes of action. But once a few shots began dropping they quickly started eating into that headstart and the scoreline probably ended up flattering the Argies. After that first burst, the Junior Tall Blacks outscored them by 18 points the rest of the way. Tyler Kropp scored 22 points for ARG but only one other player got to double figures on that side. Meanwhile for NZ, Kaia Isaac was the man who began the comeback on the way to 14p/7r/7a before Jackson Ball took over in the second half for his 17p/5r/3a. Carter Hopoi was bright off the bench, bringing with him a +13 plus/minus in his 21 minutes.
It was interesting to see the two most hyped prospects here, Oscar Goodman and Julius Halaifonua, used relatively sparingly. They were both out there for that poor start and it seemed like both were quite rusty. They’re the only two guys in this team who haven’t played any NBL this year on account of having gone over to USA universities early… where they’ve barely played. Goodman redshirted his first year at Michigan while Halaifonua only played six times for Georgetown due to injury. Hence Goodman only got 20 mins here and Halaifonua 24 mins. But the depth of this team is such that it didn’t matter. Others stepped up with all 12 players getting on the floor. Ball and Isaac were the only two who surpassed 25 mins.
NZ gave up 18 turnovers in that game, ten more than their opponents, yet they were equal for points scored off turnovers (11-11). Argentina had a big dominance in points in the paint but NZ kept them to just 16.7% from deep. The JTB’s were only at 27.8% from threes themselves, however that difference was substantial considering we also shot more. And, crucially, the rebounding was way in favour of NZL: 52 to 41.
Game Rua: Won 73-50 vs Mali
That story continued against Mali where this time it was New Zealand who shot out to a big early lead with Mali not even converting a field goal until almost six minutes into the contest. The quantity of rebounds was massively in NZ’s favour – showcasing how strong and athletic this team is. They’ve got the heart and application that we usually see from Aotearoa national teams but they’re not punching above their weight. This is their weight. They’ve been the stronger, faster, smoother, bouncier team in both matchups.
Mali did gave length on their side though, with lots of long arms able to reach in and disrupt the kiwi dribblers. They closed the game right back up with a series of triples in the second quarter before a Hayden Jones buzzer beater sent momentum back towards the kiwis. Then the inside presence of Julius Halaifonua and Carter Hopoi took over as New Zealand locked up that Mali offence again. They’d only scored 9 points in the first quarter. They then scored 29 in the second frame… but that was followed by 5 points in the third and 9 points in the fourth. Yeah, the kiwis restricted them to just 14 second half points. Good luck winning any game doing that.
So it was that even though the kiwis had some trouble converting their own halfcourt stuff, they were easily able to grind their way clear to a 73-50 victory. Hayden Jones scored 19 points with 8 rebounds. Hopoi had 11p/4r. Tama Isaac added 9p/8r/4a. Mali never led at any stage.
Again, it was only 26.3% from threes yet again that was still a roughly 10% better accuracy than their opponents. Rebounding was 59 to 41 in favour of Aotearoa. Despite coughing up 18 turnovers, New Zealand only conceded three points off those subsequent possessions. And... that’s a decent chunk of this section dedicated to the U19 World Cup already so if you want more you’re going to have to check the paid section at the bottom.
Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones didn’t get drafted into the NBA but that was no surprise. The real question was which team would scoop him up for Summer League. The answer: Toronto Raptors. ATJ will be kitting up for the Raps... who interestingly weren’t one of the five teams on record as having brought him in for workouts prior to the draft (those were Houston, Brooklyn, OKC, and the two LA teams).
ATJ will join Sam Mennenga (LA Lakers) in Summer League participation this year, making this a rare instance when two NZers (at least) have gone down the SL pathway in the same season. There have also been rumours about Tyrell Harrison getting involved after his Puerto Rican team released him last month following whispered requests from NBA folks. Mennenga has been playing in Puerto Rico during his NBL offseason too. To the best of my researching abilities, this is the full list of New Zealanders who’ve played in the various NBA Summer League tournaments...
2003 – Kirk Penney (Minnesota Timberwolves)
2004 – Kirk Penney (Minnesota Timberwolves & Chicago Bulls)
2005 – Kirk Penney (Milwaukee Bucks)
2007 – Craig Bradshaw (Atlanta Hawks)
2013 – Steven Adams (Oklahoma City Thunder)
2013 – Tom Abercrombie (Phoenix Suns)
2014 – Steven Adams (Oklahoma City Thunder)
2014 – Rob Loe (Golden State Warriors)
2017 – Corey Webster (Dallas Mavericks)
2017 – Tai Webster (Golden State Warriors)
2018 – Tai Webster (Miami Heat)
2019 – Jack Salt (Phoenix Suns)
2019 – Finn Delany (Dallas Mavericks)
2022 – Sam Waardenburg (Dallas Mavericks)
2023 – Sam Waardenburg (Minnesota Timberwolves)
Could also count NZ-born Mojave King with the Indiana Pacers in 2023 if you want, though his international allegiance is an odd case. Those guys mentioned all got minutes except for Waardenburg with the Dallas Mavericks in 2022, where injury prevented him from featuring – he then got injured again when he went back over with the Wolves a year later, only playing two minutes in total. Rotten luck for that man. Anyway, giz a yell if you can think of anyone else who belongs on that list.
Flying Kiwis Transfer Tracker
The timing of this newsletter didn’t work out perfectly because today is the last day of the month and with the rest of the world trailing in our wake on the ol’ time zone trackers, that means it’s tomorrow morning when most of last season’s contracts will expire.
Still waiting on quite a few cases, especially with the women where lesser media focus often leaves these details for the clubs to take care of, where we don’t yet have confirmation whether players are staying or leaving. Katie Bowen is the most notable as Inter Milan prepare for a crack at the Champions League. Her original contract only has a few hours left... but she wasn’t included on their departure list so hopefully there’s a new one waiting to be announced. Same deal for Mickey Foster and Hannah Blake at Durham. Meanwhile, Leicester City seem more interested in the Euros than telling us whether CJ Bott has extended her stay or not.
The other factor here is that from tomorrow, players can begin signing with new clubs. Someone like Max Crocombe, his move to Millwall has already been announced but technically it becomes official on 1 July. Surely surely surely Matthew Garbett has something lined up given how long he’s had to ponder on his next step. The fact that he stayed with NAC Breda these past six months could suggest that he has a destination in mind and they were waiting for the free agency green light. Today is also the deadline for Elijah Just’s buy-now option at SKN St Pölten. Same deal, presumably, for the two-year option on Sarpreet Singh’s contract at UD Leiria.
That’s a lot of names without a lot of news so thankfully we’ve had our first Tyler Bindon loan rumour with his former Reading coach Ruben Selles reportedly keen to bring him in at his new team Sheffield United. That’d be Championship footy at a team pushing for promotion. Another huge stride upwards in TB’s career. Also kinda still think there’s some chance of him staying at Nottm Forest though. The sale of Irish international defender Andrew Omobamidele leaving to join Strasbourg in France on a permanent basis having spent the back-half of last season there on loan. If they’re trying to expand their squad with Europa Conference League midweekers upcoming then that’s not going to do the trick. They have re-signed Willy Boly on a one-year deal after it’d seemed like he was likely to leave so that’s not ideal for Bindon’s prospects... however, the proposed signing of young Brazilian CB Jair Cunha seems like it may have hit a hurdle. As always, it’s waiting game. And before anything else, Bindon (and Marko Stamenic) will get the chance to impress in the early stages of preseason. No decisions are going to be made until after that.
If you’re wondering about Ben Waine’s future, it’s probably useful to know that he’s been hanging out with Plymouth-based skills coach Adam Cusack (Atek Coaching) lately doing a bit of offseason development. The fact that he’s still in England adds weight to the idea that he’s intending to stay in Europe for his next gig. As he should, really. His goals per minute average has been pretty good throughout his time at Plymouth and Mansfield... the problem has been a lack of opportunity.
Rebekah Stott has signed a two-year extension to stay at Melbourne City. They paid a transfer fee to bring her back from Brighton two years ago and now the club captain set to continue shattering A-League records. Last season was the third time she’s gone undefeated through the entire regular season with Melbourne City. With 144 ALW appearances, she’s miles ahead of the second-placed NZer on the list – that’s Liz Anton with 81 games and she’s now playing in Norway. Annalie Longo is third with 72 games and recently retired. Mackenzie Barry (71) and Grace Jale (69) are next and they’re both coming off contract.
Musical Jam...