The Goal Zone
The Goal Zone
Wellington Phoenix x Finals Footy, Devon Conway run scoring prowess, Ryan Thomas' PSV contract, Tom Vodanovich x NBL Finals & Flying Kiwis goal zone
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Podcast
TNC Variety Show - Episode 63
The Niche Cast: Pool Party
Reading Menu
Exploring Ajaz Patel's Journey From Mumbai Magic To Blackcaps Mana (Cricket)
Kiwi-NRL Spotlight: The Steady Development Of Joseph Tapine (NRL)
Flying Kiwis – May 3 (Football)
There Goes Another Disappointing Breakers Season (Basketball)
Exploring The (Relative) Kyle Jamieson Test Plateau (Cricket)
Where Do Sean Marks and the Brooklyn Nets Go From Here? (Basketball)
27fm Album Jukebox - April 2022 (Music)
Wildcard’s Notebook
Bit late on the ol’ email this week, apologies for that. Hectic couple days and it’s gotta be a solo mission from yours truly today. No dramas. Plenty of kiwi sporting yarns and then some. Off we go.
Welly Nix Areas
The Wellington Phoenix polished off their regular season efforts with a 2-1 loss away to Melbourne City last night, a win that was enough for City to claim the Premiers’ Plate... much to the annoyance of a large Melbourne Victory crowd which turned up to cheer on the Nix (a draw or Phoenix win and Victory would have finished first). Which led to a fantastic atmosphere and a really exciting game, the cheer that Ben Waine got for his goal only rivalled by the cheer he got when he scored at Eden Park a couple weeks ago.
Weird thing is, a loss to end the season sounds like a bummer. But it’s not. In fact that game actually got me more excited for the finals. They conceded twice inside 11 minutes, both from corners, and at that stage it looked like another hiding was on the cards against a team that beat the Phoenix 6-0 a while back. Ufuk Talay had rotated his team with nothing much to play for. No Gael Sandoval or David Ball. First ever starts for Jackson Manuel and Riley Bidois. And while they avoided conceding again, the first half was quite a shambles as the Nix were pressed into submission and created basically nothing.
Then on came Reno Piscopo and the fit-again Clayton Lewis at HT and everything changed. Eventually Finn Surman was subbed off and the Nix went back to their old favourite 4-2-2-2 formation (which I’m hoping we see on Saturday in the finals – Uffie was hesitant to change things for this game with the short turnaround but maybe with Lewis back and a few more days of training that alters things). Ben Waine put one away from a Gary Hooper assist – Hoops with just his second start of the last 22 matches and keeping up his killer goal contribution rate. 4 goals and 2 assists in 651 ALM mins this season.
And while the Phoenix did ultimately fall short of an equaliser – to extend their record to 0-0-10 when they concede the first goal – the way they played in that second half was a huge boost considering that Melbourne City is who they’d play in round two should they get past Western United.
Clayton Lewis made a huge difference. I remember writing what a heavy load he was going to have to carry after Alex Rufer got injured... then he got hurt himself. Crazy to think the Nix just played the last nine games without either of their starting CMs and still did enough to crack the top six. Lewis’ passing range, his calmness under pressure, and his general decision making are just a huge step above the inexperienced Nick Pennington and out of position Gael Sandoval. Huge relief to see him back in time for the finals, Gary Hooper too, and both should be better off for the tune-up they were able to get during in this match.
There are still injury clouds surrounding Jaushua Sotirio, Josh Laws, and Callan Elliot heading into the Western United game, while obviously Alex Rufer isn’t coming back in a hurry. David Ball will play through the pain though.
If we do see a back four, it’ll be curious to see who starts at RB. Ben Waine has done so in the last couple but that was a needs-must thing and probably isn’t feasible with a four rather than a five. Tim Payne is the best man for the job but that would likely mean teenager Finn Surman starting at CB alongside Scott Wootton.
Surman has impressed hugely with his recent performances but that’s a tall ask for the young fella. Talay mentioned in his last presser that the back three formation has helped Surman settle. A four would expose him a little more and there’s no doubt that Payne/Wootton is the best defensive combo. However Callan Elliot’s injured and Louis Fenton appears to have fallen out of favour at right back. Only started two of the last seven despite being fit... though most of that was with wing-backs and a back four would bring him back into contention.
Something like this, potentially?
Sail
Fenton, Wootton, Payne, Sutton
Pennington, Lewis
Piscopo, Sandoval
Hooper, Ball
Alternatively I can easily see a way in which Ben Waine starts so that Hooper can have more of an impact later on in the game off the bench. And I’m definitely not committed to Fenton > Surman either. Nor am I entirely sure that it’ll be a 4-2-2-2 and not a 5-2-3 shape.
What I am convinced about, friends, is that the Wellington Phoenix have stumbled into the best finals match-up that they’ve had for many years. The rivalry with Western United is completely overblown and I don’t really see why anyone still cares about it post-Rudan but the results against Western United have been immense regardless. Here’s what’s happened each and every time the two teams have met...
2019-20: L 1-0 / W 3-1 / W 2-0
2020-21: W 3-2 / D 1-1 / W 3-0
2021-22: W 2-1 / W 4-1
That defeat was in week one of that season, Ufuk Talay’s first ever game in charge of the club. Since then they’ve gone seven unbeaten against these opponents which is actually eight if you include a 1-0 win in the FFA Cup earlier this season. Ben Waine scored the winner that day. Later on the Nix beat them 2-1 in the first game of what became the seven-game unbeaten streak that resurrected their season. Gael Sandoval with a goal on debut and Gary Hooper also on the scoresheet. Then there was the 4-1 win that came directly after the 6-0 MCY & 5-0 CCM defeats with Scott Wootton, Jaush Sotirio x2, and Gael Sandoval getting the bangers.
The Welly Nix have made the finals in three of the last four seasons now and only missed out last time by goal difference. However it’s been ten years since the club last won a finals game. Just getting this far at all in a season with as many hurdles as this has been incredible... but damn what an opportunity to go even further, man.
Ryan Thomas x PSV Contract Yarns
Eindhovens Dagblad: “PSV has informed Ryan Thomas that his expiring contract will not be extended. There is, however, still a possibility that parties will enter into discussions to explore a collaboration in the future. The midfielder, who was signed from PEC Zwolle in 2018, has suffered a lot of injuries in Eindhoven in recent years and has barely played this season. It is unclear whether Thomas will still be considered and also depends on his recovery. Perhaps there is still a hook for him, but there are no guarantees. The New Zealander is valued at PSV for his contribution but the past few seasons have nevertheless been disappointing for him.”
That’s the scoop. What they’re talking about there, because it is a bit confusing between the expiring contract and not extending him but maybe still offering him a new deal, is the contract-option that they had for one more year on his existing deal. There was a deadline involved in when they had to decide (the start of May) and now they’ve decided against taking it up which potentially leaves Ryan Thomas as a free agent in two months.
Eran Zahavi has also had the same treatment though for the Israeli striker that’s as much about him wanting to leave as anything (and PSV being happy to lose one of their top earners). He was close to departing in the winter break but ultimately stayed on to finish the term. Chances are he’s already got something else lined up. As for Thommo, with him it’s about all the injuries and how unavailable he’s been. By the end of this season he’ll have played 33 out of a possible 136 Eredivisie fixtures since he joined the club.
But, as the article says, there’s still a chance they offer him a separate deal. Could be something more tailored towards appearances made. Could be just biding their time to see how his recovery goes before offering him something similar to what he might have gotten. Time will tell. It’s a sad turn of events but hardly a surprising one, let’s be honest.
Devon Conway Things
Devon Conway has scored three straight fifties in the IPL stuff. He’s been involved in opening partnerships of 54 runs, 182 runs, and 110 runs. In four innings this tournament he has 231 runs at an average of 77.00 and a strike-rate of 155. What do you know, he’s been given a chance in a new situation and he’s scoring obscene quantities of runs. Just like he’s done in every other fresh situation he’s found himself in since moving to Aotearoa.
Devon Conway’s Test innings: 200, 23, 80, 3, 54, 19, 122, 13, 109, 36, 16, 92
Devon Conway’s ODI innings: 27, 72, 126
Devon Conway’s T20I innings: 41, 65no, 5, 63, 99no, 2, 38, 17, 36, 92no, 15, 27, 2no, 1, 17, 36no, 46
The year before he became eligible for the Blackcaps, he top scored in ALL THREE domestic formats in the same season.
Look at the man’s numbers, they’re incredible in every format and at every level. In fact, even though we’re talking about a small sample size, they actually get better in the international versions. And his strike-rates correspond beautifully from format to format, showing the signs of a dude who is comfortable with his approach in any game of cricket he happens to be playing. What a man, what a player.
Tommy V in the NBL Finals
The Sydney Kings are one win (from the remaining three games) away from lifting the Aussie NBL title having beaten the Tasmania JackJumpers in both the first two Finals games. That means that Tom Vodanovich is one win away from being an NBL champion (Weds @ 9.30pm if you’re wanting to watch).
When the playoffs were set the hope was cast upon Shea Ili and Melbourne United simply because he plays the biggest role of any of the kiwis that made it that far but alas that didn’t come to pass. Thankfully though Tommy V’s still hanging in there.
Vodanovic averaged around 10-11 minutes per night across the regular season. That fluctuated from match-up to match-up but he was usually a decent presence for the Kings. However playoff basketball often means shrinking the rotation and Vodanovich suffered that fate in the semis as he logged 3:34 in one game against Illawarra and got a DNP in the other.
He has since gotten a bit more time against Tassie in the finals. 4:47 in game one with 4 points. Then 9:49 in game two with 5 points and 2 rebounds. He’s hit both his three point attempts so far. Limited yarns and a lot of his playoff time has come in fortunate bench moments. Garbage time and that kinda thing. But tell ya this much: his playoff Offensive Rating is 167.6 and his playoff Defensive Rating is 109.8. Small sample size, blah blah blah, but still looks good over 18 minutes.
Then when Vodanovich is done with the Aussie NBL finals he gets to flip back over the Tasman Sea and crack into some Aotearoa NBL with the Wellington Saints (who have so far had 20+ point defeats against Southland and Otago but of course they’re not at full strength yet so no need to panic). Happy days for that fella.
Flying Kiwis Goal Zone
Screeners
I can’t remember what triggered it but I’ve gotten really into silent movies this year. Been watching a heap of them – the cool thing about silents is that they’re all so old that most of them are out of copyright so they’re easy to watch on YouTube in decent definition, for example. And I’ve got extra space to fill here so have a geeze at an all-timer from the legendary Buster.