The Whirlwind
Blackcaps Test squad, Charlisse Leger-Walker in WNBA, All Whites World Cup selection, Kiwi-NRL & Warriors halves, Chris Wood's goals, White Ferns on tour, and more
Blackcaps Test squad notes...
Will Young’s been overtaken by Henry Nicholls in the Test squad. Young will only play in Ireland while Nicholls is in both squads after piling up runs for Canterbury last summer (and many summers before).
Nicholls probably won’t be 1st 11 as the top-6 is locked in: Latham, Conway, Williamson, Ravindra, Mitchell, Blundell.
Phillips will probably be 7 with Foulkes/Smith in the mix as all-rounders.
Tom Blundell keeps his wicket-keeping spot and Tom Latham provides cover. Mitch Hay’s been slowed down since making his Test debut with Dane Cleaver getting the Bangladesh tour duties and Max Chu is on the rise to compete with Hay moving forward.
Test batters since the start of 2025
Tom Latham: 71.1avg/55sr
Devon Conway: 87.1avg/61sr
Kane Williamson: 46.2avg/65sr
Rachin Ravindra: 117.2avg/97sr
Daryl Mitchell: 38.6avg/64sr
Tom Blundell: 11.6avg/59sr
Henry Nicholls: 188avg/62sr
Will Young: 38avg/64sr
Zak Foulkes: 19.5avg/40sr
Nathan Smith: 45avg/32sr
Jacob Duffy won’t tour Ireland/England and Blackcaps will still roll out a seaming group of Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Will O’Rourke, Zak Foulkes, Nathan Smith, Blair Tickner against England. Ben Sears will stay with the squad after the Ireland Test while Michael Rae and Kristian Clarke will only be in the squad vs Ireland.
Rae did the job on debut in the Test series vs West Indies and he’s the 9th ranked seamer in this group. Tickner has commanded more Tests with resurgent form. Foulkes and Smith join Glenn Phillips as possible 1st 11 all-rounders. Clarke’s brewing as the next seamy all-rounder.
Test bowling averages
Matt Henry: 27.13
Kyle Jamieson: 19.73
Will O’Rourke: 24.28
Zak Foulkes: 28.38
Nathan Smith: 39.8
Blair Tickner: 29.18
Ben Sears: 32.2
Michael Rae: 28.2avg
Best performances for White Ferns in warm up game vs England Development
Jess Kerr: 44 runs @ 88sr
Flora Devonshire: 30* @ 96sr
Izzy Sharp: 22 runs @ 85sr
Suzie Bates: 3w @ 2.6rpo
Rosemary Mair: 2w @ 1.1rpo
Nensi Patel: 2w @ 2.8rpo
For paid subscribers
Blackcaps Test squad reaction & White Ferns/NZ-A update podcast
Blackcaps Test team of players not selected to tour England
Michael Bracewell’s out of the Test mix
NZ-A women’s 1st 11
NZ-B women’s 1st 11
NZ Warriors stat rankings
NZ Warriors emerging depth chart
Per game stat improvements for NZ Warriors (2025 | 2026)…
Points: 21 | 30.9
Tries: 3.7 | 5.3
Linebreaks: 3.9 | 5.9
Offloads: 7.7 | 8.7
Dummy half runs: 8.4 | 9.6
Try assists: 2.7 | 4.7
Penalties conceded: 5 | 4.1
It’s hard to be thirsty for Luke Metcalf when NZ Warriors are winning without him and Metcalf has lost four games in a row (2-5 in his last seven games).
If Metcalf doesn’t want to compete for either halves role then whatever. It also depends on what Te Maire Martin is up to and how he performs this season. Four NRL halves is too much so the fat will be trimmed - but NRL players also get injured/suspended so depth is required.
NZW have ample halves depth moving forward with Luke Hanson, Jett Cleary, Jack Thompson and Harry Inch on the rise. NZW could let Metcalf/Hanson depart and still have two elite halves on the rise in Cleary and Thompson. Cleary will be ready for NRL next season after a full year of NSW Cup and then Thompson can move into the NSW Cup halves leader role.
Jensen Taumoepeau is named on the wing for Gold Coast Titans and that will make him the seventh Kiwi-NRL debut of 2026. The Western Suburbs junior from New Plymouth will join Siale Faeamani as Kiwi-NRL players to debut on the wing for Titans this year and Taumoepeau is part of a growing Taranaki group of Kiwi-NRL/NRLWahine players.
Mawene Hiroti is another Western Suburbs junior who had a similar journey from New Plymouth as Taumoepeau in starting with Rabbitohs before switching to Sharks. Taumoepeau then went on to have stints with Cowboys and Raiders before joining Titans last summer.
Tiana Davison (Knights) and Gayle Broughton (NZW) are Kiwi Ferns from Taranaki. Davison’s linked to Clifton and Waitara, while Broughton is from Hawera. Charley Lahmert has been playing for Knights U19s this year coming out of Bell Block Marist and that’s the same junior rugby league club that Jake White is from.
White is in the Sharks system and is chasing his first game of U21s for Sharks after starting this year in U19s. White left Aotearoa to move to Sydney and quickly made the Australian Schoolboys team as a middle forward, playing alongside Antonio Verhoeven (Cobden-Kohinoor) and David Bryenton (Ellerslie).
Kahu Capper is a Western Suburbs junior currently playing U21s for NZ Warriors as well.
Verhoeven is named on the wing for Broncos, replacing Deine Mariner to keep the Aotearoa wing combo at Broncos with Josiah Karapani (Otahuhu) keeping his spot. Broncos also have the edge forward combo of Jordan Riki (Hornby) and Xavier Willison (Whatawhata), plus the bench trio of Preston Riki (Hokianga), Aublix Tawha (Turangawaewae) annd Hayze Perham (Pikiao).
Edward Kosi returns to NRL footy on the wing for Rabbitohs. The Mangere East junior has gone from 125-135m per game in his NSW Cup seasons at NZ Warriors to 154m/game in his first season with Rabbitohs.
Two more metres per game hot pockets...
Naufahu Whyte’s (Bay Roskill) last three seasons: 77m, 148m, 158m.
Matthew Timoko’s (Ellerslie) last three seasons: 159m, 149m, 179m.
The U19 Mal Meninga Cup final features Jordan Hotere (Hibiscus Coast) in the halves for Wynnum and Reweti Ngarimu (Scots College) at edge forward for Townsville. Hotere is joined by Tokoaitua Owen (Ngongotaha) as Aotearoa halves on the rise in Queensland with Owen linked to Broncos and Hotere was linked to Titans but not sure of his status right now.
Meanwhile in New South Wales, Haami Loza (Mangere East) is the highest ranked young half from Aotearoa as he’s elevated to NSW Cup for Panthers. Bronson Reuben (Kaiapoi) is usually in the halves for Bulldogs at the U21 level and Ryder Crosswell (Dannevirke) has moved up from U19s to U21s for Knights in recent weeks.
Musical jam...
Nick’s Notebook
The 26-man All Whites squad for the World Cup will be named next Thursday. NZF have also confirmed the long-rumoured pre-WC friendly against Haiti, that game taking place four days before they face England with both matches in Florida before they head to their training base in San Diego. That’s all sorted... and the squad should be pretty much sorted too. Last time I went through it, there were 21 players that felt absolutely locked in, leaving five spots up for grabs:
Third Goalkeeper
Reserve Right-Back
At Least One Extra Centre-Back
A Versatile Midfielder
An Additional Winger
And that’s interchangeable in that they might want two CBs and no winger or any variation therein. Might decide that one of the CBs can cover RB as well (Bill Tuiloma for example). You get the idea. The injury list has basically been cleared at this point, with Michael Boxall returning to the pitch this week and Libby Cacace getting back in matchday squads for Wrexham. Sarpreet Singh got minutes for the Nix in their last game. Chris Wood and Matt Garbett have been back for a few weeks. This is what I’d like to see next Thursday...
GK: Max Crocombe, Alex Paulsen, Kees Sims
DEF: Liberato Cacace, Tyler Bindon, Finn Surman, Michael Boxall, Tim Payne, Francis De Vries, Callan Elliot, Nando Pijnaker
MID: Joe Bell, Marko Stamenic, Alex Rufer, Matt Garbett, Ryan Thomas, Lachlan Bayliss, Owen Parker-Price
FWD: Chris Wood, Callum McCowatt, Elijah Just, Sarpreet Singh, Ben Old, Kosta Barbarouses, Ben Waine, Jesse Randall
It’s been a tough few weeks for Kees Sims who got a couple starts for GAIS but then got dropped after a high-profile mistake. But he’s a goalkeeper, mistakes happen and he’s at a higher level than any of the other candidates for this spot. Remember Sims was the incumbent GK3 for the games vs Ecuador and Colombia (but they didn’t want to pull him out of preseason training for the last window to fly all the way around the world and not play). If it’s not Sims, I hope it’s Henry Gray who is less experienced but has an equally high potential. The alternative would be someone like Nik Tzanev or Michael Woud as older players. Woud is the clear preference there but I’d way rather use that spot on a hungry youngster with number one potential down the line. All goalkeepers are well versed in serving time as back-ups, where they’ve gotta train hard and keep the main guy on his toes. This squad is stacked with leadership so that doesn’t need to be a factor either.
Bill Tuiloma is the big omission there. He’s missed All Whites squads before though, and I think Callan Elliot deserves to be there on form as a specialist fullback and I also just really want Lachie Bayliss and Owen Parker-Price both in the team – it’s a tournament squad after all and guys in those positions are way more likely to get playing time than a fifth central defender.
Individually I’d give Tuiloma a very slight edge over Pijnaker but Nando has been more consistent this year and has the left-footed element in his favour. Can easily see Bazeley picking both and leaving out one of those midfielders. Anyway, I’ve done an audio bit for the Patreon and Substack paid subscribers where I break down that squad in a lot more detail.
My Preferred Starting Eleven:
Crocombe; Payne, Surman, Bindon, Cacace; Bell, Stamenić, Thomas; McCowatt, Just, Wood
No stress whatsoever if Boxall and Paulsen get the nod instead – that’s the beauty of a squad with genuine depth. Then there’s guys like Singh, Garbett, Old, Randall, Bayliss, OPP all to be injected as the game goes on. Waine and Barbarouses probably less so since Chris Wood won’t have be having his minutes managed at a World Cup, that’s prime time footy, and he’s never going to be subbed for tactical reasons. But they’ll get something along the way. Whichever of the three main CBs doesn’t start is there if we’ve got a result to protect and want to go into back three mode. Elliott, FDV, and Old should all see some time at fullback off the bench. Great squad. Very exciting. Let’s go.
Couple more notes from the Charlisse Leger-Walker zone with her WNBA season tipping off this weekend. Crazy short turnaround just a few weeks from winning a national championship with UCLA. Whirlwind stuff. They only played two preseason games, with a week’s training camp beforehand, and now it’s immediately into the real deal basketball as CLW chases a professional debut.
First thing that’s gotta happen between preseason and regular season is getting the roster down to size. The Connecticut Sun made three cuts the day after their preseason loss to New York Liberty (one of the title favourites btw) with Kyla Oldacre, Harmoni Turner, and Migna Touré all placed on waivers. They’d only just picked up Oldacre on waivers themselves about a week earlier, obviously didn’t like what they got there. Turner had played the entirety of the fourth quarter of that game as a point guard so it seems she failed that audition. Touré was a DNP – Coach’s Decision so she didn’t even get that far. Then this morning they axed Madison Hayes and Taylor Bigby who’d also each gotten big minutes at the end of that game with coach Rachid Meziane wanting to have a look at the rest of his roster. Bigby was the #37 pick in the draft, the fourth of their four selections. But she couldn’t hack it.
Down go five players from what had been an 18-player roster. They need to get down to 12 players plus they can add two Development Players to the list. One of those has already been assigned with Ashlon Jackson, who was #23 at the latest draft, picked up after being waived by the Golden State Valkyries. DPs are capped at 12 games per year.
Speaking of waiver grabs, the Sun have also scooped up Hailey van Lith after her release by the Chicago Sky. HVL was a big name player in college but her small stature and troubles with injuries (she’s coming off ankle surgery) meant she didn’t make much impact as a rookie last term. The Sky decided to replace her and move on and Connecticut are having a peek instead.
This is the first of all these Connecticut roster moves that might negatively affect Charlisse Leger-Walker. They’re both point guards who’ll be competing for bench opportunities, even if HVL is more of a combo guard. Then again, CLW might simply be better. She’s already being talked about as a reliable rotation player by her coaching staff. Could even be that the Sun are only looking at Van Lith to cover the gap until Leila Lacan returns from her commitments in France. Veteran guard Shey Peddy is out injured and missed both preseason games too, so they do need additional guard cover.
HVL has an existing contract that the Sun inherited after claiming her. She’s one of nine players with guaranteed contracts right now: Brittney Griner, Kennedy Burke, Diamond Miller, Aaliyah Edwards, Saniya Rivers, Leila Lacan, Olivia Nelson-Ododa, and Hailey van Lith. They’ve also got their three remaining drafted rookies ready to go when they sign their deals: Nell Angloma, Gianna Kneepkens, and of course Charlisse Leger-Walker. That leaves Shey Peddy and Raegan Beers remain on training camp deals, with Ashlon Jackson in one of the two DP spots. Seems like the obvious cuts from here would be Peddy and Beers (Beers is eligible to move onto a DP if she clears waivers, Peddy is not). Burke, Griner, and Peddy are the only players over the age of 25 on the current roster.
In amongst the fuss about Chris Wood’s Europa League penalty goal last week was a note from the Nottingham Forest stats team about it being Woodsy’s 200th professional goal. Credit to those folks because they did their research... but technically it’s only his 200th club goal. He’s also scored 45 times for the All Whites as well as three goals for the Olympic team so he’s actually hanging about at 248 goals meaning that another milestone is very close.
That’s discounting U21s goals too. He scored one of those a few weeks ago on the comeback trail from injury and there were several back when he was actually an U21s player at West Brom. Possibly more that have gone unrecorded... but we’ll ignore those since that’s not professional or top level stuff. Same with the goal he scored in an U23s friendly vs Australia, although I have been counting that towards his penalty record. That’s a contradiction but, I dunno, it feels right.
Chris Wood Goals By Team
53 goals for Burnley
45 goals for New Zealand
44 goals for Leeds United
41 goals for Nottingham Forest
20 goals for Leicester City
11 goals for Birmingham City
11 goals for Millwall
9 goals for Brighton & Hove Albion
5 goals for Newcastle United
3 goals for West Bromwich Albion
3 goals for Bristol City
3 goals for NZ U23s
Chris Wood Goals By Competition
92 goals in the English Premier League
78 goals in the English Championship
29 goals in World Cup qualifying
15 goals in International Friendlies
10 goals in the English League Cup
8 goals in English League One
6 goals in the English FA Cup
3 goals in the Europa League
3 goals in Europa League qualifying
3 goals at the Olympic Games
1 goal at the Confederations Cup
Chris Wood’s Favourite Opponents
12 goals vs Brighton & Hove Albion
9 goals vs Leicester City
9 goals vs Huddersfield Town
9 goals vs Solomon Islands
8 goals vs Wolverhampton Wanderers
8 goals vs West Ham United
7 goals vs Fiji
6 goals vs Crystal Palace
6 goals vs Fulham
6 goals vs Norwich
Musical Jam...
