Two-Footed Lunge
Team City Kickboxing season, Dan Fotu at St Mary's, CJ Bott's next move & an All Whites flashback
Podcast
TNC Variety Show - Episode 42
The Niche Cast - Keep It Tidy/Stay Steady
Reading Menu
Blackcaps vs India Test Series Preview (Cricket)
2021/22 Hallyburton Johnstone Shield: Who Is Abby Gerken? (Cricket)
Kiwi-NRL Takeover Continues With Seven Young Hookers From Auckland Signed To NRL Clubs (Rugby League)
Aotearoa Warriors Re-Jig Their Redcliffe Dolphins Collab With Fresh Aotearoa Juniors (Rugby League)
Flying Kiwis – November 24 (Football)
National League South Central Series – Men’s Week 3 (Football)
National League South Central Series – Women’s Week 3 (Football)
An Analysis of Alex Rufer, The Welly Nix’s Most Misunderstood Player (Football)
Scotty’s Word
What happened to Team City Kickboxing moving overseas?
At the time of Israel Adesanya’s ‘announcement’ of a move to USA, I was puzzled by how this whipped Aotearoa media into a frenzy. The whole situation was confusing as most of Aotearoa’s athletes and teams have had venture overseas during pandemic times, many of whom stayed overseas. There was a weird vibe with Adesanya as he is simply one of many world-class kiwi sports folk who have had to deal with these niggly circumstances; why are going above and beyond to announce something that numerous others have already done?
That’s the Mixed Martial Arts bubble though. It’s also a case of Adesanya venting frustrations and these frustrations were shared by Team CKB about the wider situation - not just quarantines etc. Team CKB have worked through the pandemic with no fuss, taking fights in the UFC during multiple lockdowns and fighting overseas without regular coaching staff present. Chalk this up as Adesanya being the voice of frustration for CKB - after a super frustrating period.
Aotearoa media clearly has something against Adesanya and they took what was a logical idea for the sake of Adesanya and his team’s careers, into some anti-NZ vibes. Of course, mainstream media don’t know that Team CKB already have fighters living overseas during the pandemic for the sake of their careers (Genah Fabian).
MMA media is massive. Adesanya gets millions of views across Youtube and social media, his online presence may be bigger than all of Aotearoa’s media stuff put together. So when Adesanya outlined his move to USA, MMA media also picked this up from a ‘this is exciting and what gym will Team CKB link up with etc’ perspective.
Adesanya: fuck this shit.
NZ media: how dare you!
MMA media: woah this is exciting.
Me: my head hurts.
What did this whole saga lead to? Nothing, just Team CKB rolling along the kiwi sports path as per.
Genah Fabian is still in USA. Dan Hooker is still in USA and will stay in USA to be present for Brad Riddell’s fight on December 5th, then Kai Kara-France’s fight on December 11th.
Let’s not forget that this time last year Adesanya, Riddell and Carlos Ulberg all stayed in USA after Adesanya’s win over Paulo Costa (Sep 27) where they made the most of their two months or so in USA. These three were embraced by the local MMA/combat sport community and throughout Team CKB there are hearty relationships, thus connections to gyms and training facilities in USA - if they ever move as a camp.
Can’t forget the boxers. Junior Fa and Hemi Ahio are Team CKB’s leading boxers under coach Doug Viney. Fa is trying to seal his next fight while uploading vlogs - as most Team CKB’s fighters are doing. Just search any of these names in Youtube and you’ll find old fights, lots of interviews and some vlogs.
Ahio and Viney were in UAE for Ahio’s win in October. These two then cornered Hooker for his UFC fight two weeks later as an example of Team CKB doing their best to grace each fighter with CKB folk in their corner.
Hooker has based himself at the UFC’s own facility and Syndicate MMA in Las Vegas where one of Team CKB’s wrestling coaches Frank Hickman is working. Hickman has tight connections to Tiger Muay Thai (Thailand) as do Team CKB and this is another example of Team CKB’s international connections and relationships.
If they have to leave NZ, they can do so very easily from a sports perspective. Team CKB is a MMA team, City Kickboxing is a business in Auckland that has had the mandatory pandemic downturn and will be eager to ramp up business as the universe opens up. Regardless of how low key beneficial (closer to the action) a substantial move overseas would be, this is unlikely as kaumata Eugene Bareman and his staff would have to leave the business, families etc.
Hooker has been able to cut weight after his recent loss by being at the UFC’s Performance Institute where all his high performance needs are catered to. Hooker’s first few fights in the UFC were at featherweight (145lbs - 65.8kg) and things didn’t work out cutting to that weight, so Hooker moved up to lightweight (155lbs - 70.3kg) and eventually became a top contender. His last featherweight fight was in 2016 and him dropping down to featherweight after a loss is an example of improved diet, nutrition, recovery information and resource available at the UFC PI.
A move down weight divisions would refresh Hooker’s career, otherwise he can keep battling away in a ruthless lightweight upper echelon. As for Adesanya, we must look to Ulberg and Mike ‘Blood Diamond Mathetha who are locked in for UFC 271 on February 12, 2022. Ulberg’s coming off a loss in his UFC debut, Blood Diamond will be making his UFC debut on a card with no venue announced. Assuming things open up, Adesanya vs Whittaker in Australia or Aotearoa in February would be tasty.
Riddell is my low key ‘need to know’ guy. He’s looked slick in his first four UFC fights - all wins by decision - and grabbed ‘Fight of the Night’ in his win over Drew Dober on June 12th. Riddell fights Rafael Fiziev on December 5th NZT and I’ll whip up a preview for that next week.
Team CKB was already partly based overseas prior to the pandemic. Fighters consistently hit up Tiger Muay Thai and gyms in USA. Throughout 2020, Team CKB traveled to USA and United Arab Emirates for UFC fights. Results were up and down - to be expected when training is limited and coaches spread thin across fighters. Up to this lovely Friday, Team CKB has made the most of international connections to thrive overseas. Now we enter a kiwi summer in which Team CKB will venture overseas and continue along their journey of representing Aotearoa massive.
Wildcard’s Notebook
First off, I wrote the Alex Rufer article I teased a week ago. Got that done while the Blackcaps game was on, sweet as. Have a read. Rufer is a player who I find myself defending more than others, seems like there’s a wide variety of responses to what he does from within the Nix fanbase – from those like myself who are really high on what he offers to those who look at his name with disappointment in the starting eleven. The latter folk are wrong. Hence I wrote about it.
Kiwi College Ballers...
Charlisse Leger-Walker tends to pop up in this email quite often. What she’s doing is unparalleled by past kiwi college basketballers, she’s a top 25 player in the entire American country coming into only her second season at Washington State. And that’s not me saying that... it’s ESPN’s preseason rankings. They put her at 21, which was fifth best for sophomore players.
Even as I write this, she’s wrapping up another impressive performance as the Cougars moved to 4-0 on the back of a dominant third quarter beating the Miami Hurricanes 62-47, dealing them their first defeat. Charlisse had 13 points (5/12 FG), 5 assists, 3 steals, and a career high 15 rebounds. Krystal chipped in with 8 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists too. Both had too many turnovers, Washington had 25 as a team in what was a pretty gritty defensive contest outside of that third quarter burst. A win is a win though. Still undefeated.
But tell you who else is worthy of a bit of focus from the Kiwi x NCAA crew and that’s Dan Fotu. Brother of NZ internationals Isaac and Ella, into his senior year with St Mary’s. They’ve been at the Maui invitational this past week, a mini-tournament within the wider season that takes place annually although it’s a little different this time due to the typical reasons. Namely that despite being the Maui Invitational it was held in Las Vegas and not Hawaii. Still got the announcers in Hawaiian shirts though so... close enough, right?
St Mary’s have been a dominant team in the past but entered this season on the fringes of the teams expected to make the national tournament at the end of the campaign. They certainly weren’t expected to win the Maui Invitational. And they didn’t. But they went close.
St Mary’s have been playing some quality ball to start the season on the back of a slower, more deliberate style than many teams, with an emphasis on defensive pressure and patiently working the best available shots on offence. That’s all helped by a squad with plenty of experience (Dan Fotu included) and at the Maui Invitational they topped Notre Dame in the quarters and Oregon in the semis on the way to a final where they were leading by 10 points against Wisconsin with quarter of an hour left in only to get hauled in down the stretch. A disappointing end to a brilliant few days but, mate, Dan Fotu was superb throughout.
In the Notre Damn game he scored a career-high 22 points including 10-straight at one point as well as hitting a go-ahead triple inside the final minute of a tense and extremely close game (no team led by multiple possessions in the entire second half). Fotu shot 8/9 from the field including 3/3 from deep. Then he chased that with 16 points (6/10 FG) and 4 rebounds in an impressive win over Oregon. And in the final he had 11 points on 4/5 shooting. Good enough for tournament All-Star status...
St Mary’s are 6-1 overall this season. Fotu is averaging 14.6 points on 65% shooting as well as playing some mean defence from the wing. Fantastic start to the term from him and if they keep going this good then St Mary’s are a national tournament team for absolutely sure.
CJ Bott’s On The Move...
New horizons beckon for CJ Bott, who has announced that she won’t be re-signing with Vålerenga. There had been conversations about a new deal but ultimately that hasn’t happened. Bott spent two years with VIF, winning the league and cup double last year, finishing fourth but repeating as cup champs this year (though Bott didn’t play in the final coming back from Footy Ferns duty). She also played Champions League footy both years – qualifiers and a round of 32 match in 2020 and a couple qualifiers in 2021. She scored 2 goals in 29 Toppserien appearances for the club.
CJ Bott: “I’ve had my two best football years in Vålerenga. The club and the team have been like a family so it is of course very sad to leave this life, but the time is right to try new challenges. I want to thank the club for all the support through what was a difficult time for me during the pandemic and wish everyone the best of luck. In me you now have a new supporter.”
VIF sporting director Egil Ødegaard: “CJ is undoubtedly a good football player who has contributed to the trophies we have won. Football is now such that players come and go without there being any drama behind it, so of course we wish all the best to CJ in the new club.”
Prior to this stint, Bott played with Vittsjö (Sweden) and USV Jena (Germany). Where will she end up next? A couple teams could fit her into their A-League rosters (though not the Phoenix) however I get the feeling she’ll probably stay in Europe. America might be a possibility given the timing of the seasons with Norway and there is another expansion team on the way too so that league is taking applications. But I can’t help but feel like her game would be an amazing fit in England, be that in the Championship coming up against Meikayla Moore or ideally in the WSL coming up against Ria Percival. That’d have to wait for the January transfer window but a month off and a trip home for Xmas, if possible, seems fair enough in the meantime. Surely.
The Old Days...
This was Winston Reid’s debut for the All Whites. A friendly held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in the lead up to the 2010 World Cup.
Reid came on for an injured Leo Bertos, who had to be stretchered off after two absolutely horrendous tackles. The second from Tim Cahill was at least accidental as he slipped while sliding in... but he still left his leg way too high with sprigs showing and not only jabbed Bertos with them but levered him over in mid-air. He was booked but that was a borderline red if VAR were in action those days.
As for the first challenge, we’re talking about a Vince Grella two-footed lunge that not only would have been a red card with a video ref but it would have been a 10-week ban with mandatory psychological counselling. How the ref could see that and only issue a yellow was appalling.
The All Whites had really bossed the first half and should’ve been up by more than 1-0 but annoyingly faded in the second half and went on to lose 2-1. Wouldn’t have happened if they were up against nine men like they should have been. Damn, dude, I’m getting a little mad reliving all this.
Weekend Viewing...
If you get the chance, watch this movie. It’s as good as I hoped it would be and I can’t stop thinking about it. Aotearoa’s own Thomasin McKenzie in the lead too, putting together a hell of a resume already: Leave No Trace, Jojo Rabbit, True History of the Kelly Gang, Last Night In Soho... always rate an actor who consistently chooses interesting projects.