The Slow Grind
Warriors defeat Knights, NZers in NBL Finals, White Ferns/NZ-A depth, A-League Women's stats, Chris Wood goals & more
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How Wellington Became 2023/24 Plunket Shield Champions (Cricket)
Kiwi-NRL Spotlight: Matthew Timoko Is Still Getting Better (Rugby League)
Aotearoa Warriors Diary: Back At Mt Smart vs Knights & Shuffling Juniors (Rugby League)
Exploring The Wellington Phoenix’s Newfound Defensive Excellence (Football)
Ben Old Has Dribbled His Way Into Golden Boy Status At The Wellington Phoenix (Football)
The Wellington Phoenix Blokes Are Nine Games Unbeaten And Truckin’ Along (Football)
Admiring The Wellington Phoenix’s Blossoming Academy Pathways (Football)
27fm Weekly Playlist: March 29 (Music)
Scotty’s Word
NZ Warriors defeated Knights at Mt Smart in another slow grind performance. There was a funky change in the Mt Smart dynamic compared to the round one loss to Sharks as it seemed like the ground announcer trying to start chants got brushed aside, as well as a little less music and gimmicks. I'm not across the status of the polynesian drummers who have been a staple of NZW footy over the years but they are still drumming at Mt Smart and throughout the Knights game I pondered how they were the soundtrack - less music more drums.
Last season was all about hitting 20,000 folks in attendance consistently. The two Mt Smart games this season have drawn 24,000 people and it will be interesting to see if NZW can sustain this over the course of a season.
NZ Warriors crowds this season...
vs Sharks: 24,076
vs Raiders: 17,249 (Christchurch)
vs Knights: 24,112
Two observation things about sports crowds in Aotearoa...
How diverse is the crowd? Is there a good mix of ages and cultures in the crowd?
Are there any sections of the stadium/arena closed off to fans?
NZW are top of the pops.
There was a constant comparison between Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Kalyn Ponga through NZW vs Knights. Both are exceptional footy players and I maintain that Tuivasa-Sheck has the best footwork in either rugby code ever. They play the fullback role very differently though and this was a key difference between the two teams as Ponga is more of a play-maker and Tuivasa-Sheck is a runner.
Tuivasa-Sheck plays fullback like Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad and Taine Tuaupiki, so there is clarity in the role for NZW. As good as Ponga was, he couldn't help his Knights team dominate NZW physically.
One key difference is Tuivasa-Sheck getting 103 Post-Contact Metres to Ponga's 36 post-contact metres. Dallin Watene-Zelezniak and Marcelo Montoya combined with Tuivasa-Sheck for 226 PCM while the Knights back-three combined for 131 PCM. All of which comes from 50-50% possession. This is crucial in the NZW set-for-set grind as they were able to gain momentum, especially with Tuivasa-Sheck running around the ruck and slowing the Knights flow.
The main attacking weapon for Knights is Ponga. NZW had attacking threats across the park even with Luke Metcalf suffering an injury; speed and power around the ruck, short passing to attack space in middle, crisp shape to create space on edges, accurate kicking to generate a contest.
NZW scored three tries and none were scored in the corner, which usually stems from complex shape. Jackson Ford hit a short pass from Shaun Johnson who crept over to the left edge. Chanel Harris-Tavita scored after Wayde Egan made a break around the ruck. Marcelo Montoya soared to catch a kick from Harris-Tavita. Pretty basic stuff that worked well.
NZW have two edge forwards full of mana in Ford and Kurt Capewell. They make errors, they miss tackles, they'll get smashed every so often. Ford and Capewell also show up every time for 80 minutes.
Split the field into thirds and it's easier to understand why NZW are such a fun team.
The middle is all about plowing forward, playing direct. NZW also love passing in the middle and have one of the best middle-passing systems in the NRL. The middle forwards aren't easy to tackle, they can pass, plus Egan and whoever the fullback is are also ready to roll forward.
Both edges have a play-maker who has the edge forward running back to the middle or hitting a short pass. Both centres can make a play (run or pass) and there are finishers on either wing. I kept typing 'good' or 'above average' to describe each player (there is a good half on both sides of the field) but all NZW players are decent and this is the best thing about NZW right now.
Egan hasn't missed a tackle this season. 59 tackles @ 100%
Rocco Berry has over 90% tackling efficiency in all four seasons and now he his hitting 100m/game for the first year. Berry missed tackles against Knights but a few times he missed the tackle and quickly mopped up his mistake.
Adam Pompey has hovered around 105m/game in the last four seasons. Making his first appearance of this year, Pompey hit 154m and made 18 tackles @ 100%.
All three bench forwards played 23-25mins. This seems like a better rotation than the 0-10min thing from the first few loses.
Mitchell Barnett is having his best seasons since his debut in 2015. 155m/game is his first season over 125m/game and his 92.73% tackling is among his best.
Barnett also has five offloads, tied with Addin Fonua-Blake and one behind Tuivasa-Sheck. Barnett had three offloads vs Knights and Tuivasa-Sheck had two. NZW aren't a big offloading team but if they are winning the physicality battle, they will offload.
Tohu Harris is averaging 167m/game - second only to his 173m/game in 2020 and only his second season over 140m/game. I love watching Harris take 'settler' runs that don't settle anything because his footwork ensures that he pokes through the defensive line. Defenders are never ready for Harris' footwork and the real hero of NZW footy is high on life...
NZW defeated Knights in NSW Cup as well, with one Aussie in their team. Ben Farr was lively as the lone Aussie and he scored two tries playing in the halves. The best thing about this win was that NZW had better players in every position than Knights and the freakish vigour that the youngsters play with was on show.
Ali Leiataua is the most favoured young back but Setu Tu, Moala Graham-Taufa and Ed Kosi aren't far behind.
Tom Ale dropped down from NRL to be starting prop. Tanner Stowers-Smith and Zyon Maiu'u aren't far behind Ale as middle forwards. Jacob Laban's the celebrated young forward but Eddie Ieremia-Toeava is making a fabulous impression with consistent game time.
Kalani Going, Paul Roache and Te Maire Martin hold it all together.
Jacob Auloa made his debut at hooker having been promoted from U19s and he looked comfy at the NSW Cup level. NZW shuffled a bunch of juniors up grades this weekend...
NSW Cup: Jacob Auloa (up from U19s)
U21 Jersey Flegg: Motu Pasikala, Sio Kali, Rodney Tuipulotu-Vea, Kayliss Fatialofa, Alvin Chong Need (up from U19s)
Knights have plenty of Kiwi-NRL talent in their pipeline...
NSW Cup: Elijah Salesa-Leaumoana (Southern Cross), Temple Kalepo (Ellerslie) - Sebastian Su'a (Mt Albert)
U21 Jersey Flegg: Jarome Falemoe (Southern Cross), Tamakaimoana Whareaorere (Te Puke), Jayden Harris (Kohukohu) - Tea-Rani Woodman-Tuhoro (Takahiwai)
U19 SG Ball: Sosaia Latu (Mangere East), Haami Loza (Mangere East/Otara), Te Kaio Cranwell (Linwood), Bailey Carmichael (Te Puke)
Women's cricket depth can't be that bad if NZ-A just defeated England A in a series of three one-dayers. There was a vibrant energy in the NZ-A team as they won the third game and this is in contrast with White Ferns who always look like the weight of the world is on their shoulders.
Mikaela Greig, Caitlin Blakely, Saachi Shahri and Prue Catton had 50+ scores with scoring strokes all around the park.
The best bowlers were fringe White Ferns Hayley Jensen, Eden Carson and Leigh Kasperek. Even Molly Penfold flashed her talent and Nensi Patel flourished in a lower order batting slot where she had the highest batting strike-rate of all NZ-A players.
NZ-A vs England A ODI Stats
Batting
Caitlin Blakely: 133 runs @ 44avg/83sr
Polly Inglis: 103 runs @ 34avg/79sr
Saachi Shahri: 84 runs @ 42avg/96sr
Kate Anderson: 51 runs @ 17avg/98sr
Nensi Patel: 48 runs @ 16avg/137sr
Bowling
Hayley Jensen: 5w @ 14avg/4.2rpo
Leigh Kasperek: 3w @ 11avg/3.8rpo
Emma Black: 3w @ 45avg/5.4rpo
Jess Simmons: 1w @ 72avg/6.5rpo
Musical jam...
Wildcard’s Notebook
The Australian NBL came to an end with a thrilling game five in the finals, as Tasmania JackJumpers claimed the championship over Melbourne United. Either way we were going to get two new kiwi champs, as it worked out Tom Vodanovich and Walter Brown got those honours. Neither was a factor in the finals. Walter Brown was only a development player so that was to be expected, only featuring in five games all season (but he get a minute of garbage time during their play-in win versus Illawarra Hawks). Lots of development potential when you’re hanging around a championship team though.
As for Vodanovich, he joined mid-season after getting cut by his Filipino club and had a few tidy contributions along the way, though was also deep in the depth chart. He got two minutes in the play-in victory but then only played 53 seconds of their semis and final series (all in game one of the finals). TV made history by appearing in the finals in three consecutive years with three different teams. He won titles with the Sydney Kings and Tasmania JackJumpers but lost with the NZ Breakers in between. Sadly he wasn’t there for the game five festivities... because he’d long since arranged his wedding for this weekend. Probably wasn’t expecting an NBL finals gig when that one got marked on the calendar. Two rings in one week, aye? How about it.
Guts to Shea Ili who played a typically crucial role for Melbourne United throughout, albeit the last couple games didn’t entirely go his way as he missed a number of driving lay-ups. Ili’s been the standout kiwi player in the NBL for several seasons now and he’s finally been crowned the Defensive Player of the Year. He’s an elite veteran now. A winning player. A shame he couldn’t get his hands on another championship though... maybe they should have brought Rob Loe back after all.
Or they could have given Flynn Cameron a crack – he only got 57 seconds across the finals series. More than Vodanovich but not by much. The rookie guard dropped out of the rotation as they tightened things up for the playoffs, so it goes. No Shea Ili, but the rest of those lads will all now link up with NZ NBL teams: Vodanovich with Auckland Tuatara, Cameron with Taranaki Airs, and Brown of course with the defending champion Canterbury Rams.
Shea Ili in NBL24 Grand Final Series
Game 1: 26 MIN | 8 PTS (2/8 FG, 1/2 3PT, 3/7 FT) | 2 REB | 3 AST | +17 +/-
Game 2: 24 MIN | 20 PTS (8/12 FG, 2/2 3PT, 2/5 FT) | 2 REB | 2 AST | 1 STL | +11 +/-
Game 3: 31 MIN | 11 PTS (4/11 FG, 1/4 3PT, 2/2 FT) | 3 REB | 1 AST | 1 STL | 0 +/-
Game 4: 30 MIN | 6 PTS (2/12 FG, 0/2 3PT, 2/3 FT) | 4 REB | 3 AST | 1 STL | -15 +/-
Game 5: 29 MIN | 11 PTS (5/13 FG, 1/3 3PT, 0/1 FT) | 4 REB | 1 AST | 1 BLK | -1 +/-
The A-League Women’s regular season is complete, with the Wellington Phoenix finishing on a high with that 2-0 win over Western Sydney (which ended up denying WSW a place in the finals... lol) for an eighth-placed finish. Not the top six they were after but a progressive season all the same – that’ll get digested later in the week in full article form.
Melbourne City won the Premiers Plate after a 2-1 win against Perth Glory following Sydney FC getting pumped 4-0 by Melbourne Victory. Congrats to Rebekah Stott and Hannah Wilkinson for that... no pressure but they’re the only two NZers who made it into the finals so it’s City all the way from here. This is Stotty’s third Premiers Plate and she’s about to embark on her seventh finals quest in nine ALW seasons. She has four championships so far.
NZ Attacking Leaders In A-League Women’s Regular Season
Goals Scored
Hannah Wilkinson (Melbourne City) – 10
Emma Main (Wellington Phoenix) – 5
Hannah Blake (Adelaide United), Grace Jale (Perth Glory), Macey Fraser & Michaela Robertson (Wellington Phoenix) – 3 each
Assists
Macey Fraser (Wellington Phoenix) – 5
Michaela Foster (Wellington Phoenix), Liz Anton (Perth Glory), Ruby Nathan (Canberra United) – 3 each
Emma Main, Alyssa Whinham & Manaia Elliott (Wellington Phoenix) – 2 each
Expected Goals (xG)
Hannah Wilkinson (Melbourne City) – 12.9
Emma Main (Wellington Phoenix) – 5.1
Hannah Blake (Adelaide United) – 2.8
Grace Jale (Perth Glory) – 2.4
Deven Jackson (Canberra United) – 2.4
Goals & Assists Per 90 Minutes
Emma Main (Wellington Phoenix) – 0.56
Hannah Wilkinson (Melbourne City) – 0.52
Macey Fraser (Wellington Phoenix) – 0.46
Alyssa Whinham (Wellington Phoenix) – 0.39
Ruby Nathan (Canberra United) – 0.33
Shot Creating Actions
Macey Fraser (Wellington Phoenix) – 70
Michaela Foster (Wellington Phoenix) – 60
Hannah Blake (Adelaide United) – 59
Deven Jackson (Canberra United) – 43
Hannah Wilkinson (Melbourne City) – 38
The defensive numbers will follow in Friday’s edition... there are only so many bullet-pointed lists a person needs to read in a single email. My number one lesson from all that is how effective Macey Fraser was, not only as a Phoenix player but compared to anyone in the league. She features a bit in the defensive stats too thanks to her excellent pressing. The Phoenix are bound to lose a few players for next season, some because they choose to move elsewhere and some because the Nix decide against bringing them back. Lots of decisions to be made there. Fraser is one of six players under contract for next season (Barry, Fraser, McMeeken, Elliott, Brazendale & Elliott)... but this campaign showed she’s good enough to move overseas already if the opportunity came along. Would the Nix release her early from her contract if it did?
Also, that xG tally for Hannah Wilkinson was the highest in the league... which is a good thing and a bad thing because she probably should’ve scored more than she did but 10 goals is still a righteous haul.
Something that I’m paying quite a bit of attention to these days is how various footballers settle back into their clubs immediately after international duty. There’s an increasing amount of research that suggests injuries are amplified after travel and kiwi footballers tend to travel more than most. But then those same players are also not necessarily in a position to skip out on club games for fear of losing their spots. It’s a tricky balance, so here’s just a quick peek at how the lads from the recent All Whites matches in Egypt (less travel for the Euro-based dudes, tbf) fared straight afterwards.
Full Games:
Max Crocombe (Burton Albion), Dane Ingham (Newcastle Jets), Nando Pijnaker (Sligo Rovers), Michael Boxall (Minnesota United), Alex Paulsen (Wellington Phoenix), Finn Surman (Wellington Phoenix), Tyler Bindon (Reading), Oli Sail (Perth Glory)
Started But Subbed Off:
Alex Rufer (Wellington Phoenix – Sent Off), Matthew Garbett (NAC Breda), Max Mata (Sligo Rovers), Kosta Barbarouses (Wellington Phoenix)
Subbed On:
Lukas Kelly-Heald (Wellington Phoenix), Marko Stamenic (Crvena zvezda), Ben Old (Wellington Phoenix), Ben Waine (Plymouth Argyle), Callum McCowatt (Silkeborg)
Not Involved:
Sarpreet Singh (Hansa Rostock)
No Game (Yet):
Clayton Lewis (Macarthur), Elijah Just (AC Horsens), Liberato Cacace (Empoli), Tommy Smith (Macarthur)
There was a bit of a short turnaround too with the All Whites playing on Tuesday local time and some of these club teams having games on Good Friday, but that doesn’t seem to have been an issue for any of the goalkeepers or centre-backs who all got full games – with the exception of Tommy Smith but only because he’s not played yet (Macarthur are on at 5pm today vs Western Sydney). Quite a few of them will back up on Tuesday NZT as well – including all the English-based players.
That might be more of a test of their fatigue but so far so good with no new injuries and pretty much everyone being able to settle straight back into their usual roles. Ben Old was on the bench though that could’ve been tactical. Sarpreet Singh was rested entirely but Hansa Rostock hardly ever play him anyway and they lost 2-0 to Kiel which has dropped them into the relegation zone.
A few Chris Wood stats after his latest goal for Nottingham Forest...
Chris Wood has scored 10 goals from just 27 shots this season. Nobody else with at least seven goals has taken fewer shots for their efforts.
Wood’s goals per shot ratio is 37%. That’s comfortably the best mark in the Premier League this season, with Elijah Adebayo (Luton Town) second at 32% and Cristian Romero (Tottenham) second at 31%.
Wood’s average shot distance from goal is 10.3 yards, which is the lowest season average in his career – the closer you are to goal, the more likely you are to score.
With 10 goals, Wood is tied-11th in the EPL Golden Boot rankings. He has scored those goals from just 6.7 xG, which is ranked 27th in the Prem. With a +3.3 goals to xG differential, he ranks seventh.
Wood’s average of 0.25 xG per shot is the best in the Premier League.
With 0.8 goals per 90 minutes, Wood ranks third in the Prem behind Erling Haaland (0.84) and Alexander Isak (0.84).
Smooth vibes jam over here...
Only on planet White Ferns is Carson a fringe selection, compared to say Jonas.
Is Kasperek the new Thamsyn Newton, selected as a fielder?