The Doosra
Blackcaps Champions Trophy prep, Warriors NRL preseason, Wellington Phoenix ALW, Matthew Garbett mysteries, top young kiwi crickets, and more
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New Zealand Find An ODI Groove Leading Into 2025 Champions Trophy (Cricket)
2024/25 Ford Trophy: Auckland Go Back To Back, Central Districts On The Up (Cricket)
A New Zealand Breakers NBL25 Post-Mortem (Basketball)
This New Zealand Breakers Season Is Capitulating Before Our Very Eyes (Basketball)
Steven Adams Is Getting Back To His Old Self Again After A Slow And Steady NBA Revival (Basketball)
The Football Ferns Have Named A Very Intriguing Squad For Their Costa Rica Tour (Football)
Kiwi-NRL Spotlight: Pre-Season Challenge Deep Cuts (Rugby League)
Key Points From The 2025 New Zealand Warriors Under 19 SG Ball Squad (Rugby League)
The Kiwi-NRL Juniors Who Helped Australian Teams Win In 2024 (Rugby League)
Scotty’s Word
Haven't seen it noted elsewhere so here's both Aotearoa Maori teams saying honour the treaty in haka...
Given the media whirlwind about the All Blacks haka that said honour the treaty, kinda strange but completely expected that there has been minimal coverage of the rugby league version.
The rugby league version is far more notable considering that the two leaders of the women's haka were Kennedy Cherrington and Shannon Mato, both of whom represent Australia in rugby league. Add in Dane Gagai who was front and centre of the men's haka, plus many more across both teams for a bunch of Australian Maori who are dedicated to standing up for Maori rights in Aotearoa.
This flows into the start of Super Rugby where apparently 13,000-odd folks showed up for the Crusaders game - the same number for the smallest Auckland FC crowds this season. The Blues vs Chiefs game drew an excellent crowd of 25,200 which was only slightly higher than the 23,344 folks who showed up for the NRL *trial* game between NZ Warriors and Melbourne Storm in Hamilton.
Welcome to 2025 where Super Rugby games hit the smallest Auckland FC crowd mark and are similar to pre-season games for NZ Warriors. What a time to be here covering sports outside the rugby union bubble.
Blackcaps won their tri-series final vs Pakistan and I cooked up a big ol' debrief here. They also played a warm up vs Afghanistan overnight and the only nugget available from a very warm uppy game is Will Young in a wee form dip. As covered in the deep dive, Young is one of Aotearoa's best ODI batters but since his 90* in the first ODI of Sri Lanka's tour earlier in the year, Young has put up the following scores...
vs Sri Lanka: 16, 0
Super Smash: 5, 11, 35
Tri-Series: 4, 19, 5
vs Afghanistan: 14
Meanwhile Devon Conway has scores of 97, 48 and 66 since his stint in SA20. Rachin Ravindra's availability will be crucial in dictating the opening batter combo as he hasn't played since getting smacked on the forehead by a cricket ball.
Blackcaps warm up mahi vs Afghanistan
Afghanistan: 305/9 @ 6.1rpo
Matt Henry: 5ov, 2w @ 7.4rpo
Jacob Duffy: 7ov, 2w @ 7rpo
Lockie Ferguson: 3ov @ 5.6rpo
Michael Bracewell: 7ov @ 4.7rpo
Nathan Smith: 8ov, 1w @ 6.6rpo
Glenn Phillips: 9ov, 1w @ 6.6rpo
Mitchell Santner: 8ov, 2w @ 4.2rpo
Daryl Mitchell: 3ov @ 6rpo
NZ: 308/8 @ 6.4rpo
Will Young: 14 runs @ 58sr
Devon Conway: 66 runs @ 98sr
Mark Chapman: 47 runs @ 85sr
Tom Latham: 15 runs @ 79sr
Michael Bracewell: 1 run @ 17sr
Mitchell Santner: 33 runs @ 94sr
Glenn Phillips: 46 runs @ 131sr
Nathan Smith: 1 run @ 100sr
Daryl Mitchell: 36 runs @ 144sr
Matt Henry: 31 runs @ 155sr
For anyone who needs reminding about Blackcaps ODI excellence....
NZ has made five consecutive World Cup semi-finals including back to back finals in 2015 and 2019.
A World Test Championship win and three consecutive T20 World Cup semi-finals, including a final in 2022 formed the basis of Aotearoa being the best cricketing nation in the world.
Then came a mid-table WTC campaign prior to the 2023 ODI World Cup semi-final, followed by a stinker at the 2024 T20 World Cup. I had to adjust my Blackcaps ranking and with a solid WTC campaign most recently, I'm settling with Aotearoa being a top-four nation (biased) which can be stretched to top-five depending on my mood.
World Test Championship
2019-21: Champions
2021-23: 6th
2023-25: 4th
ODI World Cup (semi-finals in 2007, 2011)
2015: Final
2019: Final
2023: Semi-final
T20 World Cup
2016: Semi-final
2021: Final
2022: Semi-final
2024: Group stage
This makes the Champions Trophy so funky and I'm kinda nervous given how Blackcaps have cruised through recent games, playing really well. I think NZ is a far better cricketing nation than England for example, but results haven't quite reinforced that and recent results in major tournaments have humbled my Blackcaps view.
This Champions Trophy campaign will offer a gauge between the horrible T20 World Cup and a solid but underwhelming WTC campaign in the recent window. Blackcaps won the Champions Trophy in 2000 before not cracking semi-finals in the next two, followed by a semi-final in 2006 and final appearance in 2009.
NZ missed the semi-finals in 2013 and 2017. They didn't win a game in 2017 with a rained off game vs Australia followed by losses to England and Bangladesh. Kane Williamson and Mitchell Santner are the only lads who played in 2017 and in the current squad, while Tom Latham was in the 2017 squad but didn't play.
Five domestic cricket youngsters who are top of mind...
Matt Boyle - 22yrs - Canterbury
Leading run-scorer in Super Smash who has scores of 22, 131, 9 sliding back into Ford Trophy. Averaging below 30 in all three formats but he's already got a Plunket Shield and Ford Trophy century, with a T20 strike-rate of 146.6
Flora Devonshire - 22yrs - Central Districts
Lefty batter and spinner. That's somewhat unique in women's cricket and after CD had a disappointing Super Smash, Devonshire put up the following when HBJ Shield swung back around...
Saturday vs ND: 35 runs @ 103sr | 2w @ 3.6rpo
Sunday vs ND: 2w @ 3.9rpo | 73* @ 103sr
In the context of women's domestic cricket stats, Devonshire has an excellent List-A record of 22.8avg/77sr with the bat and 23avg/5rpo with the ball.
Jock McKenzie - 23yrs - Auckland
In the theme of my yarns today, McKenzie chose cricket over rugby union. McKenzie is also batting three for Auckland in Ford Trophy, bowling 10 overs and starts his fielding mahi at cover. That's as good as it gets for an all-round cricketer and he has scores of 22, 51, 0 with 3w in the three Ford Trophy games since Super Smash.
Emma McLeod - 18yrs - Central Districts
Leading run-scorer at the Under 19 T20 World Cup for NZ which meant she didn't play much Super Smash. Leading run-scorer for CD in HBJ Shield (300 runs @ 42avg/73sr) and she is the youngest batter in the group of 12 who have scored 200+ runs. Currently averaging 26.3 in List-A batting with three 50+ scores in her first 19 innings.
Max Chu - 24yrs - Otago
Quietly brewing as the next best wicket-keeper behind Mitch Hay and depending on form, Chu could overtake Hay at some point. Chu was Otago's leading run-scorer in Super Smash (230 runs @ 155sr) and is leading their Plunket Shield run-scoring (360 runs @ 60avg), while currently second for Ford Trophy runs (288 runs @ 111sr). That smells like career-best form and a strong finish to the season will see Chu command an opportunity higher up.
Bree Illing - 21yrs - Auckland
Lefty seamer who is leading Auckand for HBJ Shield wickets (17w @ 18avg) after behind their second best bowler behind Fran Jonas in Super Smash (8w @ 24avg). Illing has a List-A career average of 23.7 and T20 average of 31.4, while offering a skillset that is rare in kiwi cricket. There aren't many emerging seamers demanding White Ferns attention right now and Illing is already among the best as a tall lefty who swings the ball.
NZ Warriors won their pre-season trial vs Storm and after outlining my focus on their attack deep in opposition territory, they were clinical in their attacking movements. This was part of an invigorating period in which coach Andrew Webster offered a few funky selections and one of those was Te Maire Martin at fullback, where he was able to rip the Storm apart with his best attribute of play-making in three vs three/three vs two scenarios.
Martin counts numbers quickly, knows how to manipulate defences with subtle movements, and has a range of passes to deploy. I don't think his best position is fullback but coach Webster threw in a doosra and Martin has the best play-making of the other fullback options, which was a nice refresher to the stagnant NZW attacking last season.
Emerging Parramatta Eels play-maker Te Hurinui Twidle from Turangawaewae showed the same skillset in his opportunity at fullback for Eels vs Knights. Eels have plenty of young depth in their play-making roles so I have been curious about Twidle's involvement but he was excellent chiming in from fullback, especially down short-sides.
Coach Webster rolled with Tuaupiki on the wing again. Along with Martin playing fullback, this is a notable diversion from the status-quo of fullback/wingers doing a lot of gritty mahi for NZW under coach Webster. Martin and Tuaupiki are good runners, but they don't offer the consistent oomph of Charnze Nicoll-Klostad or Dallin Watene-Zelezniak. They do offer more attacking funk and these positional tweaks could point to a change in style.
Players have improved over time during the two Andys era at Mt Smart. Bunty Afoa has been excellent in the two trials so far and I've got him earning a top-17 spot, which is because of his development and improvement.
Marata Niukore looks better in small doses so far this year, Tom Ale thrived in his move from middle forward to right edge, and Jacob Laban looked comfortable at edge forward for Aotearoa Maori. With Jackson Ford only getting middle minutes right now, the edge forward mix has Kurt Capewell, Niukore, Laban and Ale offering plenty of depth.
Samuel Healey has also thrown himself into the top-17 mix with crisp passing, lively running, and rugged defence at hooker. Coach Webster will carry a small forward on his bench, probably Dylan Walker with Erin Clark demanding a starting spot as the best NZW player across two trials. This leaves three spots up for grabs and I've got Demitric Vaimauga, Leka Halasima, Afoa and Niukore/Laban as the main lads competing here.
Three spots narrows to two if Harris-Tavita or Healey gets a bench spot or coach Webster carries a versatile back on the bench.
The quietest observation was Eddie Ieremia-Toeava playing his role nicely at centre. While he didn't do much, Ieremia-Toeava had two classy improv touches that led to tries and these instincts can't be overlooked given that the 20-year-old played prop and edge forward in NSW Cup last season.
Musical jam...
Wildcard’s Notebook
The Wellington Phoenix Women continue to lose close games away from home. Last night they lost 2-1 away to Perth Glory in a match that they arguably had the better of... yet failed to make the most of the chances they created and then lost by a single goal. You’ve heard that story before. It’s happened four times in a row when they’ve played in Australia. There’s still enough room left in the season to overcome this dip but they’ll now need a decent climb to make the top six. This away form is doing serious damage.
Welly Nix in Aotearoa: L W W W W D
6 G | 4 W | 1 D | 1 L | 10 GF | 5 GA | +5 GD | 13 PTS
Welly Nix in Australia: L L W D L W L L L L
10 G | 2 W | 1 D | 7 L | 10 GF | 14 GA | -4 GD | 7 PTS
Six of those away defeats have been by a single goal, plus there was a draw. One of the two away wins was Unite Round against Adelaide which was technically a neutral venue. So many of these games where one or two big moments could have changed the whole thing. The Nix were way on top against Perth as the second half got underway, carrying on the momentum from Liv Fergusson’s equaliser just before the break. But they failed to score from that spell and then, with twenty to go, Tiana Jaber smashed one into the top corner of her own net. Nix lose.
What’s especially frustrating is how much this mirrors last season. Look at those stats above, now look at these 2023-24 statties...
Welly Nix in Aotearoa: L W W W D W W L W W
10 GM | 7 W | 1 D | 3 L | 22 GF | 12 GA | +10 GD | 22 PTS
Welly Nix in Australia: W L L L L L L L L L W L
12 GM | 2 W | 0 D | 10 L | 15 GF | 23 GA | -8 GD | 6 PTS
Again, so many single-goal defeats there: 8/10 away losses were by a margin of one. They just aren’t able to score enough goals. It was a problem last time, they’ve rebuilt the squad with Grace Jale, Olivia Fergusson, Mebae Tanaka, and a fit-again Annalie Longo/Alyssa Whinham taking over for the losses of Mariana Speckmaier, Isabel Cox, Hope Breslin, and Macey Fraser, and it remains a problem this time.
Longo’s been superb and Fergusson’s been pretty good (albeit she missed a couple good chances last night along with her goal). Jale and Whinham look great in build-up then don’t convert (both are probably best as facilitators yet they only have two combined assists). Emma Main deserves more than her usual 20 minutes off the bench. Ela Jerez has now made consecutive bench appearances so she might give them some x-factor late in games as she gets settled. Mebae Tanaka’s either injured or has disappeared down the pecking order.
Annalie Longo – 3 goals, 4 assists, 1336 minutes (191 m/GA)
Olivia Fergusson – 3 goals, 2 assists, 949 minutes (190 m/GA)
Maya McCutcheon – 2 goals, 2 assists, 1433 minutes (358 m/GA)
Grace Jale – 2 goals, 1 assist, 1303 minutes (434 m/GA)
Manaia Elliott – 3 goals, 770 minutes (257 m/GA)
Emma Main – 2 goals, 1 assist, 612 minutes (204 m/GA)
Alyssa Whinham – 1 goal, 1 assist, 1080 minutes (540 m/GA)
Mebae Tanaka – N/A, 488 minutes
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Blackcaps ODI Death Bowling Since January 2020 (Overs 40-50)
Matt Henry – 22 wickets | 16.23 average | 7.05 rpo
Tim Southee – 15 wickets | 22.93 average | 9.38 rpo
Trent Boult – 14 wickets | 14.29 average | 6.90 rpo
Mitchell Santner – 11 wickets | 32.64 average| 5.79 rpo
Jacob Duffy – 8 wickets | 20.30 average | 9.28 rpo
Lockie Ferguson – 8 wickets | 38.50 average | 6.82 rpo
Ish Sodhi – 7 wickets | 18.00 average | 5.48 rpo
Will O’Rourke – 6 wickets | 10.67 average | 6.19 rpo
Kyle Jamieson – 6 wickets | 20.67 average | 7.91 rpo
Rachin Ravindra – 6 wickets | 30.17 average | 6.66 rpo
Blair Tickner – 6 wickets | 36.00 average | 9.82 rpo
Jimmy Neesham – 6 wickets | 43.67 average | 10.84 rpo
Blackcaps ODI Death Batting Since January 2020 (Overs 40-50)
Tom Latham – 409 runs | 37.18 average | 138.18 strike-rate
Glenn Phillips – 382 runs | 38.20 average | 138.91 strike-rate
Mitchell Santner – 326 runs |27.17 average | 120.30 strike-rate
Daryl Mitchell – 290 runs | 36.25 average | 141.46 strike-rate
Michael Bracewell – 255 runs | 42.50 average | 163.46 strike-rate
Jimmy Neesham – 152 runs | 21.71 average | 125.62 strike-rate
Mark Chapman – 127 runs | 21.17 average | 133.68 strike-rate
Ish Sodhi – 112 runs | 11.20 average | 79.43 strike-rate
Ross Taylor – 91 runs | 91.00 average | 126.39 strike-rate
Cole McConchie – 80 runs | 40.-00 average | 163.27 strike-rate
Additionally, here are a couple of Blackcaps charts showing batting and bowling metrics in ODIs since the last ODI World Cup...
Probably the strangest kiwi footballing situation right now is the one surrounding Matthew Garbett at NAC Breda. With luck something funky will happen soon to clear things up but at the time of writing it’s pure confusion. Basically, Matt Garbett was told he was surplus to requirements at the Eredivisie club, told to pursue a transfer during January... and then didn’t leave. Now a guy contending for All Whites starting status (I think in a full-strength team he’s probably outside the eleven... but it’s rarely a full-strength team so he’s usually in there), is facing the potential of six months without any meaningful club football.
There’s not been a heap of info circulating about all this from the Aotearoa side (outside of the Flying Kiwis updates, of course), so to make sure everyone’s on the same page, this is a rough timeline of events...
NAC Breda went on a stunning playoff run to get promoted to the Eredivisie last season, during which Garbett was mostly playing off the bench but still had a few shining moments - and it was clear from the celebrations that the fans appreciated him.
Manager Jean-Paul van Gastel had already tried to leave for Besiktas mid-season. They didn’t let him go but it was understood he’d leave at the end of the campaign no matter what happened. Promotion didn’t change his plans. They replaced him with Carl Hoefkens who is known for having a strict tactical approach.
Garbett scored in a famous win over Ajax early in the season, though soon began to fall out of favour after starting five of the first six games.
Garbett then got stood down (along with another player) for the match against NEC Nijmegen after an undisclosed disciplinary issue. It’s understood he didn’t react well to being dropped so the coach made an example of him. Hoefkens later said that move was as much about trying to motivate Garbett, lighting a fire under him, as it was about anything else.
There was then the difficult situation where Garbs was wrongly accused of making racist comments towards an opponent in the derby against Willem II. It was quickly established that they had the wrong man (for one thing the accusation was made in Dutch which Garbett doesn’t speak fluently enough to be the case)... the NAC fans unveiled an “In Garbett We Trust” banner at the next match. Garbett was reportedly very shaken up by the whole situation, causing him immense stress.
Then came the winter break when, all of a sudden, Garbett was amongst a small list of players who were not invited to the team’s training camp in Spain and instead told to look for new clubs. In MG’s case, the accusation seems to be that he wasn’t disciplined enough in his positioning for Hoefkens’ system... as well as a lighter suggestion that he hadn’t developed as much as they’d hoped in his time at the club.
Reports during January were that Garbs had several options on the table and was merely waiting for his preferred club to sell someone else so they could fit him in. Then the Dutch deadline passed without anything happening and we’re still waiting as the rest of the continent wrap up their transfer windows. Croatia and Switzerland close within 24 hours. The Australian window is already shut so don’t go thinking Welly Nix or AFC. Maybe Ireland where his brother is playing? Otherwise… Czechia, China, Russia, Poland… not a lot of destinations remaining.
It’s all very confusing and there doesn’t seem to be any reporting about why nothing happened. As I say, it could be that he’s lining up a transfer to Switzerland and it’s all quietly unfolding behind the scenes... but every hour that becomes less likely. To be clear, this isn’t about “disciplinary” issues unless you’re using the word in the tactical sense. He’s been iced out because he doesn’t fit the rigid system the coach is trying to implement, not because of his attitude or his behaviour.
Garbett’s been training with the U21s squad, still hanging around. There are no hard feelings but he’s stuck in an unwanted stalemate without having played since mid-December. There are World Cup qualifiers coming up and it’s getting tricky to justify him being selected unless something changes - there’s already a precedent with Bill Tuiloma losing his spot, despite being a leader within the squad, after falling out of favour with his club.
Musical Jam...