The Steady Passage Of Time
The Steady Passage Of Time
Blackcaps in Pakistan, a new Phoenix ALW coach, Warriors lose to Panthers, HB Hawks are strugglin', and some domestic footy notes
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Kiwi-NRL Spotlight: Valynce 'The House' Te Whare (Rugby League)
Kiwi-NRL Spotlight: Keano Kini's Debut For Titans (Rugby League)
Aotearoa at the 2023 Men’s U20 World Cup: Squad Yarns & Preview (Football)
10 Of The Best Emerging Wahine Cricketers In Aotearoa After The 2022/23 Season (Cricket)
The Breakers Struck The Ideal NBL Next Star Balance With Rayan Rupert (Basketball)
27fm Album Jukebox - April 2023 (Music)
27fm Weekly Playlist: May 8 (Music)
Scotty’s Word
Blackcaps won the final ODI of their series vs Pakistan, going down 1-4 to the hosts. Here are some stats for the notable performers in the series...
Batters
Daryl Mitchell: 297 runs @ 74.25avg/97sr, 2 x 100
Tom Latham: 282 runs @ 56.4avg/89.5sr, 3 x 50
Will Young: 240 runs @ 48avg/95sr, 2 x 50
Mark Chapman: 118 runs @ 23.6avg/113.4sr
Tom Blundell: 103 runs @ 34.3avg/79.8sr, 1 x 50
Bowlers
Matt Henry: 47.3ov, 8w @ 33.7avg/5.6rpo
Adam Milne: 27ov, 5w @ 30avg/5.5rpo
Henry Shipley: 29ov, 4w @ 41.2avg/5.6rpo
Rachin Ravindra: 27.3ov, 4w @ 48.2avg/7rpo
Ish Sodhi: 50ov, 4w @ 74.7avg/5.9rpo
Will Young and Adam Milne stand out as fringey ODI 1st 11 lads who made their cases for World Cup selection. Young currently has an ODI average of 49.3 and Blackcaps need a batter to plug the Kane Williamson hole. Blackcaps steadily select two fast bowlers in World Cup squad and Milne’s start to 2023 sits as his best year of ODI bowling.
Mark Chapman did flash his T20I run-scoring with back to back score of 40-odd in the last two games. The tricky thing for Chapman is the depth of all-round options and Chapman barely bowls these days. Jimmy Neesham, Rachin Ravindra and even Cole McConchie offer all-round skills that could be viewed as more useful.
McConchie took his opportunity nicely, scoring 98 runs @ 116.6sr which was the highest strike-rate for Blackcaps facing more than 50 deliveries. McConchie also churned out 21ov with 1w @ 5.42rpo which makes him the most economical bowler for Blackcaps in this series.
Henry Shipley is a sneaky lad to keep tabs on, despite being outside the World Cup mixer. Shipley's first summer of Blackcaps cricket...
ODI: 15w @ 23.9avg/5.5rpo
T20I: 2w @ 70.5avg/10.8rpo
That's different to his domestic mahi. Shipley's best format is T20 (24.8avg), then First-Class (27.5avg) and he averages 37.2 in List-A. Shipley is quick to learn, growing into an effective international bowling style. He hovers around 132-135km/h but can give 140km/h a nudge, while nibbling deliveries with a quirky action.
I'm also curious about the wicket-keeping role. My Blackcaps 1st 11 features Tom Latham as the wicket-keeper and I want Finn Allen opening, so there isn't a need for someone like Tom Blundell in the team. Blundell should be in the squad though.
Allen tends to have a whack which doesn't always look nice. I want Allen to have a whack though because Blackcaps will need to be hunting scores around 300 at the World Cup.
When India batted first in the initial development tour earlier this year, they scored 349/8 and 385/9. NZ jacked up 108 in their lone innings batting first. In five ODIs of this tour vs Pakistan, neither team scored less than 280 when batting first and neither team scored less than 230 in 10 innings.
Fair play, India and Pakistan were batting in home conditions against a second-tier Blackcaps bowling attack. Blackcaps also scored runs though and while everything tightens up in World Cups, the baseline for run-scoring will be totals of at least 270. Allen is the Blackcaps ODI opener because he has a T20I strike-rate of 160.4, T20 strike-rate of 171.6, List-A strike-rate of 105.6 and a healthy record given his role in ODIs of 31.35avg/95sr.
Big ups Finn Allen, yet to play an IPL game.
NZ Warriors lost to Panthers, sealing a run of three losses in a row. You may have seen some corporate joker complaining about NRL referees on behalf of the Warriors. First and foremost, folks love to complain. Complaining doesn't make you wise, it doesn't show how smart you are. Complaining is laziness.
The Niche Cache deploys gratitude. Complaining is the opposite of gratitude.
Sure, I ride the wave of refereeing decisions when watching Warriors. Anyone who watches more than two NRL games a week knows that weird ref decisions are made in every game. Complaining about refs for Warriors games doesn't offer any insights either and we are here to relay insights, wrinkles, bits and bobs.
Warriors lost to Storm, Roosters and Panthers in this pocket. In all three games, Warriors were not the the dominant team and these are the best teams of the last two decades. Warriors didn't win rucks, they didn't take every opportunity and minor areas of weakness such as a lack of speed were evident.
Warriors were also decimated by injury - who do I blame about the injuries? Who is doing that investigation?
Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, Tohu Harris and Jazz Tevaga all left injured vs Storm and didn’t play vs Roosters. Wayde Egan missed the Storm game. Te Maire Martin and Mitch Barnett have been out injured for all three games as well. Luke Metcalf is yet to play any footy this season. Dallin Watene-Zelezniak and Edward Kosi left injured vs Panthers, forcing Marata Niukore and Egan to finish as centres. How are you going to defeat Panthers like that?
Demitric Sifakula punched Nathan Cleary and that’s not a smart move. Prior to that, Sifakula spent time in the middle alongside Tom Ale during Jackson Ford's sinbin. The two youngest Warriors forwards playing in a middle trio with Harris during a sinbin, against Panthers. After the sinbin Ale and Sifakula moved to edge forwards: Ale on the right, Sifakula on the left.
Sifakula and Ale played middle together, then finished as edge forwards. That's a mark of their quality and like learning not to punch someone, there is a bounty of experience for Warriors to gain from this niggly patch of games. This is most evident in what Sifakula and Ale have experienced in just 10 rounds. Taine Tuaupiki looked slick in his game time. We have seen Freddy Lussick step in as a quality back up to Egan and we have seen Dylan Walker cover multiple positions already.
As noted consistently, the effort and intensity of Warriors has not waivered this season. Most important is how the thread of mana has flowed through every game and has been present regardless of who is playing. Despite being dealt adversity, Warriors are battling and Warriors folks should be grateful for a team that represents their community in that way.
Who do I complain to about James Fisher-Harris making his return from injury against Warriors, with Moses Leota bullying folks?
Under coach Andrew Webster, Warriors have a similar style to Panthers. That makes it a tough match up when facing Panthers because their forwards are better, Cleary is better than Johnson, Dylan Edwards is better than Nicoll-Klokstad. Panthers completed their sets, kicked long and dominated through defence. That's championship footy.
Tough weekend for Warriors as the NSW Cup crew lost to their bogey team North Sydney Bears 12-30. Warriors drop to 3rd in NSW Cup and Rocco Berry scored both tries for Warriors as he sneaks back into the pipeline. Everyone missed a bunch of tackles, so I'm not fussed about Leka Halasima's 6 missed tackles when he's clearly a bit of a phenom.
Halasima also had 11 runs - 124m @ 11.27m/run. This is a kid playing against men and he is consistently the most dynamic runner for Warriors, while racking up 45mins. Halasima has now played 45+ mins in four consecutive games, making 20+ tackles in five of his seven NSW Cup games.
Fabulous round of NRL footy with two debutants from Aotearoa in Valynce Te Whare and Keano Kinin. Here's a overview of elite Aotearoa footy though which is designed to lay out the best players following on from the World Cup for an imaginary camp to get the lads all together with coach Michael Maguire
Fullbacks: Joseph Manu, Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, Sebastian Kris
Wings: Jamayne Isaako, Ronaldo Mulitalo, Jordan Rapana
Centres: Peta Hiku, Matthew Timoko, Reimis Smith
Halves: Jahrome Hughes, Dylan Brown, Kieran Foran, Shaun Johnson, Kodi Nikorima
Middles: Jesse Bromwich, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, James Fisher-Harris, Joseph Tapine, Nelson Asofa-Solomona, Moses Leota, Kenny Bromwich, Isaac Liu, Braden Hamlin-Uele (Samoa), Scott Sorenson
Edges: Isaiah Papali'i, Briton Nikora, Marata Niukore, Jordan Riki
Hookers: Brandon Smith, Jeremy Marshall-King
I tried to keep blokes in the position where they have been playing this season, except Manu for obvious reasons. Isaako is kicking goals which is useful and while Rapana is listed third in the wing bracket, I'd select him as a bench utility. I threw Nikorima into the mix because he is a spark under Dolphins coach Wayne Bennett.
I'm also going to add development players who will be part of this camp...
Backs: Hayze Perham (Bulldogs), Will Warbrick (Storm), Starford To'a (Tigers), Jaxson Paulo (Roosters - Samoa)
Forwards: Leo Thompson (Knights), Griffin Neame (Cowboys), Wiremu Greig (Eels), Connelly Lemuelu (Dolphins - Samoa), Alec MacDonald (Storm)
Musical jam...
Wildcard’s Notebook
Paul Temple’s going to be the new Wellington Phoenix A-League Women’s coach.
He’ll be the third coach in three seasons after Gemma Lewis left to take up a position with the Welsh FA after year one, then assistant Natalie Lawrence was promoted in her place but last week chose not to continue in the role for personal reasons. Now it’s Paul Temple’s turn, switching across from his role as Academy Director and coach of the Women’s Reserves.
Back to back wooden spoons aren’t really an issue here. It’s pretty clear the difficulties that the team has had to deal with from the first year being stuck in Oz to player restrictions then the self-imposed issue of picking a very young team with an eye on development and not wanting to sacrifice any kiwi spots for import players. You know the drill. But while lessons have been learned along the way and both seasons saw the team far more competitive at the end of the term than they were at the beginning... the excuses were already going to dwindle for year three.
Helpfully, the ALW is going to be different next term. Central Coast Mariners are getting an expansion team to bring the league up to an even dozen, which will mean a full home and away fixture list of 22 matches. They played 14 games in year one, 18 games in year two, then add an extra four on the end of that for next time. We’ll wait and see if the Aussie player restriction remains – the Nix kinda gamed the system last time anyway with four of their five ‘Australian’ visa players actually committed to the NZ pathways. But the playoffs have been expanded to six teams from four and that’s a stated aim for this team already.
Might write more on this later, we’ll see how that goes too. But the main point to make is this: the last two Women’s head coach appointments and the most recent Men’s head coach appointment have all been made internally. This is a club that is making a point of trying to develop coaches as well as players and they’re putting their money where their mouth is. As to how successful this strategy proves to be... that’s another answer that will only be unveiled with the steady passage of time.
Aye what’s up with the Hawke’s Bay Hawks lately?
That’s four straight defeats for the team that was looking like the blokes to beat after two road wins to tip things off. Since then they’ve gone down 95-93 to Taranaki, 110-103 to Canterbury in triple OT, 97-89 to Southland, and 93-88 to Manawatu.
In all of those games they’ve held solid leads and let things slip away. The triple OT game, okay, that’s as close as it gets and somebody was going to have to lose it eventually. But they led after three quarters of the Airs & Sharks games and were up early against the Jets only to get burned 54-38 over the middle two quarters.
One pretty obvious issue there is that coach Everard Bartlett is working with a short rotation. Great starting five of Jarrod Kenny, Jordan Ngatai, Ethan Rusbatch, Jordan Hunt, and Hyrum Harris. Then Derone Ruakawa off the bench to make sure Kenny doesn’t have to go so deep on his older legs. Yet they’ve mostly stuck to those six guys so it makes sense that a bit of weariness and fatigue might enter the picture particularly in fourth quarters. That triple OT game didn’t help. The Hawks have three players (Ngatai, Rusbatch & Harris) in the top seven for minutes per game (whereas the other team in that 3OT game, the Rams, don’t have anyone until Tevin Brown at 17).
On that note it’s clearly a good thing that they’ve brought in an import. 25yo American power forward Ira Lee who logged 16 minutes off the bench on debut in the Jets game most recently. That’ll help ease the load and it’ll also help give them some of that import push in a league where the overseas guys often dominate. It’s the imports who are taking Otago over the top, for example. 11 of the top 13 overall scorers so far are imports. HBH didn’t even have an import let alone one that productive. Now at least they’ve got some help there.
A couple other things... the Hawks are allowing the most points in the paint per game which is where it doesn’t help not having a legitimate big man. They’re also rank from deep with none of their starters averaging even 30% on 3pters (which is exactly what sixth man Ruakawa is hitting them at, not much relief there). Chuck in the second highest foul rate and that seems like enough reason for the season.
NZ NBL Domestic Player Stat Leaders (After Round 5)
Points Per Game
Tai Wynyard (Canterbury) – 19.8
Reuben Te Rangi (Auckland) – 19.6
Tyrell Harrison (Franklin) – 17.7
Rob Loe (Auckland) – 17.2
Derone Ruakawa – 16.7
Assists Per Game
Richie Rodger (Taranaki) - 5.0
Taylor Britt (Canterbury) – 4.5
Jarrod Kenny (Hawke’s Bay) – 4.2
Izaya Mauriohooho-Le’Afa (Wellington) – 4.0
Hyrum Harris (Hawke’s Bay) – 3.8
Rebounds Per Game
Hyrum Harris (Hawke’s Bay) – 12.0
Tyrell Harrison (Franklin) – 11.7
Rob Loe (Auckland) – 10.8
Sam Timmins (Otago) – 10.8
Tai Wynyard (Canterbury) – 10.3
Steals Per Game
Rob Loe (Auckland) – 2.8
Izaya Mauriohooho-Le’Afa (Wellington) – 2.0
Isaac Davidson (Franklin) – 1.8
Jordan Ngatai (Hawke’s Bay) – 1.7
Jayden Bezzant (Franklin) – 1.5
Blocks Per Game
Rob Loe (Auckland) – 3.6
Tyrell Harrison (Franklin) – 3.0
Joshua Leger (Manawatu) – 1.5
Kenechukwu Nwafor (Franklin) – 1.5
Tai Wynyard (Canterbury) – 1.3
Domestic Football Roundup...
There’s something weird about regional league football in NZ, at least this season there is, where no late lead is ever safe. Either you put four past the oppo or you face the dreaded prospect of a late equaliser and don’t even think about settling for a draw. Last week Hamilton Wanderers equalised against Manurewa in the 86th minute thanks to a Derek Tieku goal (after Rewa had gotten three red cards – one for violent conduct, two for protesting... ironic thing is the first red was later overturned, though that doesn’t excuse the overreaction). This week they did the same only even later as Tieku’s 90th minute leveller got Wanderers a point away to Manukau United, who’d been trailing 1-0 with an hour to go, scored twice in ten mins, then couldn’t hold on. Tieku got both goals for Hamilton and already now has 10 for the season – three clear of Nicolas Bobadilla of Manurewa in the Northern League top scorer’s list (Bobadilla scored a hatty in the meeting last week but also got one of the red cards - he and Argentine compatriot Tino Contratti are each now one week into a 10-game suspension).
Late drama also in West Coast Rangers 1-0 win over Auckland United. Kees Tweed with the 90th minute winner there in a big upset. United’s only other defeat so far had come against Auckland City.
Speaking of, City won 4-0 against Takapuna but Eastern Suburbs kept pace with a come from behind 4-2 win away to Bay Olympic that means both the Navy Blues and the Lilywhites have six wins and two draws to start the season. Undefeated and already five clear of anyone else... third place being Manurewa who beat Western Springs 3-1 to snap a three-game winless streak after their sizzling start. It’s the South Auckland Derby between Manurewa and Manukau next week in NZF’s streamed game.
Huge drama in the Central League as Wellington Olympic lost their perfect record via a 3-2 loss to Stop Out. They were 2-1 up after 75 mins but a late double from Jerram Tuck flipped the script. An unusual collapse from Olympic, who also had two late red cards (Ben Mata and Joseph Hopper).
That wasn’t as much of a drop as what Whanganui Athletic did. They’d been leading 1-0 since the 19th minute away to Western Suburbs, a lead they kept up until the 56th minute… only to end up losing 7-1. Seven straight defeats for Whanganui whom, it has been pointed out, have been getting torched in second halves since their unexpected boost into the top flight (allowed up after Wellington United withdrew).
Western Suburbs also beat the WeeNix 1-0 during the midweek – the Phoenix have the next month off to work around the U20 World Cup so they’ll be playing a few more midweekers where this came from to catch up. That win, followed by the subsequent one, takes Wests up to second behind Olympic. That’s a serious team they’ve got there this season. Ryan Feutz scored the winner against the Nix to keep up his steady form. Meanwhile the Nix bounced back to beat Napier City Rovers 3-2 away... thanks to a stoppage time winner, of course. In this case it was one that Rovers threw away.
Down south there was another shock result with Dunedin City Royals getting the 3-2 victory against Cashmere Technical. That moves them level on points with CT with only goal difference splitting the pair for the second National League spot. Long way to go yet, of course. That result also allowed Christchurch United to move five points clear at the top as they remained the only team left across the three regional leagues with a 100% record after a 4-0 win against Nelson Suburbs. Chch Utd (7-0-0), Western Suburbs (5-3-0), Auckland City (6-2-0), and Eastern Suburbs (6-2-0) are the last undefeated teams left.
Nothing drastic in the NRFL Women’s Prem. Auckland United won 4-1 against Hamilton Wanderers and really seem to be clicking now with their new-look squad and fresh coach all beginning to gel. After a loss week one to Eastern Subs, AUFC have won five in a row scoring 19 goals in those games. Eastern Suburbs and West Coast Rangers also had wins while Western Springs suddenly found their form again as they put seven past Ellerslie in what the table suggested should’ve been a close game. 7-1 final score.
And also a shout out to the Wellington Phoenix’s Women’s Reserves, effectively an U20s team which is playing in the Capital Development League Boy’s U17 league (as discussed on Friday). They’d lost their first two games there without scoring a goal but it was third time lucky on Sunday with a 3-1 win over Stop Out. Good to see. Zoe McMeeken popped up playing in that one, alongside plenty of fellow youth internationals. Was an especially memorable day for Paul Temple as he’d been coaching that team within his overall role as the Technical Director of the Academy... coached them to a win on Sunday morning then Sunday arvo he was unveiled as the new Women’s A-League team coach.