Turangawaewae
Kiwis at the RLWC, Glenn Phillips yarns, NZ Breakers buzz, Football Ferns squad, Black Sticks Hockey, Women's NL Team of the Week
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Reading Menu
Learning About Kiwi-NRL Juniors Keano Kini and Karl Oloapu (Rugby League)
Flying Kiwis – October 26 (Football)
2022 T20 World Cup: Blackcaps Grindin' (Cricket)
2022 Plunket Shield: Central Districts and Canterbury Wins (Cricket)
2022 Plunket Shield: Northern Districts vs Otago Draw (Cricket)
Scotty’s Word
Aotearoa Kiwis have wrapped up their Rugby League World Cup group stage and now face Fiji in a quarter-final on Sunday morning. No smooth, crispy Kiwis performances and while the themes from this preview are still highly relevant, there aren't many insights to gather from wins over Lebanon, Jamaica and Ireland.
World Cups are niggly. This was most evident at the 2017 RLWC, while the Women's Cricket World Cup also provided lots of shenanigans. The T20 World Cup is fabulous because of this niggle. Performing well at World Cups requires wins over weaker teams as well as elevating for the blockbuster moments and given how the 2017 RLWC played out; grateful for three Kiwis wins.
'Clunky' is a word that has followed Aotearoa Kiwis throughout the group stages. That's what happens when three different spine combinations are deployed..
vs Lebanon: Manu, Brown, Foran, Smith (JMK)
vs Jamaica: Nicoll-Klokstad, Manu, Foran, Smith (JMK)
vs Ireland: Manu, Brown, Hughes, Smith (Foran)
Aotearoa has also had three different pairings starting at centre...
vs Lebanon: Hiku, Nicoll-Klokstad
vs Jamaica: Niukore, Hiku
vs Ireland: Hiku, Nikora
And Aotearoa has had three different pairings starting as edge forwards...
vs Lebanon: Papali’i, Bromwich
vs Jamaica: Bromwich, Nikora
vs Ireland: Bromwich, Asofa-Solomona
Most importantly, the Manu/Brown/Hughes/Smith combo got game time against Ireland. There is a funky thread through Irish footy of swift line speed. Ireland are the most aggressive defensive team All Blacks face and this filters into how British-Irish Lions defend against All Blacks.
Against Aotearoa Kiwis, Ireland's edge defenders were rushing up almost recklessly. A few times in their RLWC clash, Irish defenders would also rush up to greet Kiwis runners just after they caught the ball; best example was Harry Rushton vs Jared Waerea-Hargreaves.
Ireland's eager edge defence against Aotearoa Kiwis put pressure on edge combinations that haven't played much together. Consider Ireland's defenders rushing up at Briton Nikora who has barely played centre - Nikora's regular mahi is line-running and making quick passing decisions against Irish defence ain't easy. Dylan Brown and Jahrome Hughes were constantly stepping back towards the ruck because of Ireland’s edge defence pushing up quickly. Do that two times against quality halves and they find a quick, or keep bursting through tired defenders.
All that matters at the RLWC is winning big games. Aotearoa Kiwis have put themselves in that position to play big games and everyone had a taste of action in the group stages. Under coach Michael Maguire, Aotearoa Kiwis have been building towards this RLWC since 2018 and folks should expect a finely-tuned Aotearoa Kiwis outfit in knockout footy.
Three things about Aotearoa Breakers...
1) Defence
Coach Mody Maor loves defence and part of Breakers returning to Aotearoa involves celebrating this kiwi mahi. Breakers have the right players to execute defensive plans such as Izayah Le'afa ripping into guard battles alongside taller guards Will McDowall-White and Cameron Gliddon. There is plenty of height/length in Jarrell Brantley, Dererk Pardon, Rob Loe, Rayan Rupert, Tom Vodanovich. This enables Breakers to switch defensive match ups as well as trusting defenders to stick with their guy. Combine that with physical play, connection when covering holes and general gritty vibes for solid defence.
Breakers defeated Tasmnia 94-62 yesterday and after eight games, opposition teams have scored 80+ points just twice.
2) Three Imports Playing Their Roles
Brantley, Pardon and Barry Brown Jr aren't just good players, they embrace their roles in the Breakers system. Pardon might as well be a kiwi hooper given his style of basketball - he is responsible for all the Steven Adams stuff. Brantley works hard and also loves the toru; shot 3/5 3-pointers yesterday and is shooting at 45% this season.
Pardon and Brantley are balanced by Brown Jr who is a scoring weapon. Brown's scoring is balanced by guards who embrace defence. Brown shot 5/6 from the field and 4/5 from 3-pt range, shooting the most of all Breakers players this season.
3) Home Court
Breakers are 2-1 at home, 4-1 away. Yesterday's win over Tasmania featured a hectic home crowd and if Breakers can maintain a solid record in Australia, they will be formidable when playing in Auckland. Greater connection to the community and turangawaewae sets up winning basketball in Australia.
Sydney Sixers are first in WBBL with Suzie Bates now second for runs. Sophie Devine and Maddy Green are second with Perth Scorchers, while Amelia Kerr's Brisbane Heat are fourth. 19 batters have scored 100+ runs and three kiwis are in that group, not Devine though as she is 31st for runs. This is a notable dip for Devine but she is leading Perth nicely and winning games counters this lack of runs.
Runs from Green also provides a fun wrinkle for Perth as she is second for Perth batters behind Beth Mooney. Green, Kerr and Bates all have batting strike-rates over 110. Kerr is one of eight bowlers with 10+ wickets.
Two losses for Black Sticks Men in their opening stanza of FIH Pro League. The kiwis lost 3-4 to India and 2-4 to Spain, leaving them at the bottom of the standings although these three teams are the only teams to play so far. Aotearoa didn't play in the 2021/22 FIHPL, finishing eighth (of nine) in 2020/21 and eighth (of eight) in 2019.
Black Sticks will play India and Spain again next weekend in India. Aotearoa needs a flow of regular fixtures at this level to make progress and while there are no expectations for Black Sticks to be a top-tier FIHPL team, I am curious about their progress as they settle back into the international schedule. That progress may be evident over the course of the week as they have more time in local conditions and more footage on their opponents.
Wildcard’s Notebook
So... Glenn Phillips, aye? I didn’t actually see the game live as I ran the ol’ Auckland half-marathon on Sunday so Saturday had to be an early one. I fell asleep listening to the radio with the Blackcaps three down for not many then woke up to hear him get out for a ton later on. Safe to say it was a pleasant surprise (unlike the sight of the Harbour Bridge looming in the distance a few hours later).
Glenn Phillips, aka the world’s most exciting cricketer as he has been deemed on this here website, scored a brilliant T20 hundy against the West Indies in 2020 (remember the pesky knee cap) in the first series after the pando break and he’s been a regular first XI player for the T20 Blackcaps ever since. This 104 (64 balls) against Sri Lanka was therefore his second international T20 century... and his fifth in all professional T20 games.
There have only been 98 T20I hundreds in history. Ten of those have been scored by New Zealanders. Brendon McCullum was first with that iconic one against Australia way back in 2010. Only Chris Gayle had ever previously tonned up in a T20I when that happened.
McCullum scored two hundreds at that level. Colin Munro scored three. Martin Guptill also has two. Glenn Phillips has two. Finn Allen got the other against Scotland earlier in the year. T20I stats are pretty young but GP is already putting up numbers...
Most T20I Runs For Aotearoa:
Martin Guptill – 118 inns | 3133 runs | 31.81 ave | 135.70 sr
Kane Williamson – 81 inns | 2256 runs | 32.22 ave | 123.00 sr
Brendon McCullum – 70 inns | 2140 runs | 35.66 ave | 136.21 sr
Luteru Ross Taylor – 94 inns | 1909 runs | 26.15 ave | 122.37 sr
Colin Munro – 62 inns | 1724 runs | 31.34 ave | 156.44 sr
Glenn Phillips – 44 inns | 1210 runs | 33.61 ave | 146.48 sr
Devon Conway – 27 inns | 1034 runs | 54.42 ave | 135.51 sr
Those are all the Blackcaps blokes with 1000+ runs. Next on the list? Mark Chapman, surprisingly enough... though a lot of it was done for Hong Kong (392 runs for HK, 369 runs for NZ). Then it’s Tim Seifert with 753 runs.
But that’s just internationally. Phillips has also scored two hundreds for Auckland in the Super Smash plus another for Barbados Royals in the CPL. Five T20 hundreds at the age of 25. The worldwide stats for hundreds are pretty incredible because Chris Gayle is first with 22 tons... and nobody else has more than eight (Michael Klinger, David Warner & Aaron Finch). Phillips is one of only 27 men with 5+ across all pro T20 cricket. Brendon McCullum (7) leads the way for NZers. Munro also has 5 of them.
Some quickfire thoughts on the latest Football Ferns squad (before writing deeper on it in a couple days)...
I do wish the press releases for these things would be more forthcoming, especially with injuries. It sounds like Hannah Wilkinson has picked up a knock in preseason with Melbourne City but there’s not a word of it there. The Blackcaps squad announcements tend to list ‘unavailable due to injury’ players who never stood a chance of making the cut but NZF’s ones are bare bones.
No Wilkinson is an issue as she’ll have missed exactly half of Jitka Klimková’s 16 games in charge after these matches vs South Korea. Most importantly she’ll have missed four South Korea games plus the Mexico and Philippines wins – the kinds of competitive games when we most need to see if she can deliver goals in this version of the team as she does in the A-League. Her strike-rate ain’t fantastic... but then nobody’s is so that doesn’t mean much. Wilkinson’s is better than most. But the combinations aren’t there yet and missing more games is a worry.
Surprised there’s no Alyssa Whinham. It felt like her not playing last tour was about easing her into this level and then a double-header in her home city appeared a perfect chance for a debut. But she hasn’t made the squad. To be fair it’s hard to find a spot for her short of changing the formation... which isn’t a terrible idea. Kinda like the thought of 4-2-3-1 these days. Still got wingers but you can also work with a playmaking ten (probably Liv Chance). Wilkinson and Satchell are the top choice striker pairing and they simply have not shown that they can work together effectively yet. Satchell’s better out wide. Wilkie can do a lone striker’s job for sure.
CJ Bott and Hannah Blake are the others missing from the previous squad. Bott is probably hanging back with Leicester City given the excessive travel and her quest to break into the first eleven there, not to mention a few niggling injuries recently. Blake was there because Daisy Cleverley was missing, now Cleverley’s back fit again so she returns. Obviously still missing a number of valuable players such as Ria Percival, Abby Erceg, Rebekah Stott, and Annalie Longo. Stott’s close to a return. Percival is a few months away. Longo will be touch and go for the World Cup. Erceg... she’s Trent Boult so hopefully she plays the World Cup but don’t expect too much friendly football from her.
Grace Wisnewski is the lone uncapped player here. Bit of a curious one to see them pick another midfielder when they’ve been working with so many of them, at all points on the experience scale, and there wouldn’t seem to be a huge amount of spots available for the World Cup to play for. Big milestone for Wiz either way.
Here’s an amazing sporting moment as Marco Rojas scored his first goal for Colo-Colo with the last kick of the game, causing swarming celebrations from all and sunder, in their first home game after clinching the title and therefore immediately before the trophy was presented...
Women’s National League – Team of the Week #7
GK – Brooke Bennett (Eastern Suburbs) – There were no clean sheets this week. There were lots of goals. There were saves for days too, giving almost every goalie a case for this team. Bennett gets it because although her team blew out to a 4-0 lead over Western Springs in the top of the table clash but Springs always had a threat in them, as their two excellent late goals showed. If that comeback had started sooner then it could still have been game on. The main reason it didn’t: Brooke Bennett.
RB – Manaia Elliott (Auckland United) – She’s actually playing as a winger at the moment but she was right back at the U17 World Cup (where she captained Aotearoa) so this is a fair compromise. Another feisty game for Elliott, scoring a wonderful goal with her left foot and going close to a couple more. All action.
CB – Rebecca Lake (Canterbury Utd Pride) – The Cantabs win over Capital was not the best overall spectacle, to be honest. Kinda cagey as a game. But Lake made sure her team held firm at the back (not always been the case this year) and then scored the opening goal from the penalty spot. Reliably one of the best defenders in the country so it’s about time she cracked one of these things.
CB – Hannah Mackay-Wright (Southern United) – Was so close to picking Rachel Head for Suburbs so honourable mention in her direction. But apparently this week is reserved for central defenders who scored penalties. HMW with her second goal in two weeks. Also another commanding defensive effort, putting her body on the line as Southern earned another impressive result. She’s in impeccable form right now.
LB – Talisha Green (Northern Rovers) – One of those captain’s displays where she barely put a foot wrong. Read the play beautifully, spending time on both edges against those dangerous Southern wingers and keeping them quiet... whilst also swinging in some mean crosses that could easily had led to goals.
CM – Charlotte Wilford-Carroll (Eastern Suburbs) – Second start of the season and CWC set up one goal and scored a blinder later on as Subs blitzed Western Springs in the first fifty-odd minutes. CWC’s defensive prowess as a midfielder has always been clear. Here she served up the attacking fizz too.
CM – Emma Pijnenburg (Western Springs) – Her team lost but as they pushed for an unlikely comeback, which they got halfway towards, Pijnenburg was involved in pretty much everything that they created. The quality of her passing... remarkable. Two more assists for her tally.
CM – Tayla O’Brien (Eastern Suburbs) – Eastern Suburbs had a great win. TOB scored two more goals. Honestly, dunno what else to say... she’s the runaway MVP and every week she moves further away from the chasing pack.
FW – Chloe Bellamy (Canterbury Utd Pride) – A reward for persistence as Bellamy scored her fifth of the season to help the Pride to a much-needed win. Bellamy’s been their most consistent attacker all season (Petra Buyck is second), pushed further forward this game to help spark something and she never quit working, eventually getting what she was after with that goal.
FW – Ruby Nathan (Auckland United) – The first name on this list. She’s played a bit of second fiddle to Milly Clegg as teammates for United, the U17s, and the U20s this year but here she got the spotlight all to herself. Nathan was superb last week. She was just as good this week and against a stretched Central side that meant 2 goals and 4 assists. An unreal haul... sending her top of the season assist charts (7 in total) despite this only being her fourth match. An enormous attacking talent.
FW – Bree Johnson (Auckland United) – She scored four goals, how was she not gonna be here? Johnson’s actually the second top scorer behind O’Brien now with nine. She’s a menace chopping in from the left wing but his week it was her instinct for getting into the right place at the right time that stood out.