Uncovered Gems
Lulu Sun's Wimbledon run, Warriors vs Bulldogs reaction, Leka Halasima, Wellington Phoenix blokes w/Finn Surman transfer buzz, U17 basketball & more
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Exploring Another New Low For The New Zealand Women's Cricket Team In ODI Series Sweep vs England (Cricket)
Kiwi-NRL Spotlight: The Selumiela 'Leka' Halasima Debut (Rugby League)
Recapping The All Whites at the 2024 Oceania Nations Cup (Football)
Auckland FC Signing Tracker & Squad Profiles (Football)
How Have Those NZ Breakers Next Star Lads Been Tracking Since Their NBA Drafts? (Basketball)
The Football Ferns Have Named Their Squad For The 2024 Olympics (Football)
The Breakers Are No Longer Coached By Mody Maor (Basketball)
27fm Weekly Playlist: July 5 (Music)
Scotty’s Word
Lost in the shuffle of a hectic NZ Warriors loss to Bulldogs: unfortunately Bulldogs piled on the points against NSW Cup and Jersey Flegg Warriors...
NRL: 12-13
NSW Cup: 16-46
Jersey Flegg: 6 -30
That's 34 points for NZW and 89 points for Bulldogs across the three grades. Bummer of a weekend for NZW, although the mana shown in the NRL loss and the debut of Leka Halasima offered a positive tinge. The NZW performance against Bulldogs is summed up by Te Maire Martin who made numerous all-effort defensive plays and kept showing up (despite being whacked off the ball) for just under 90 minutes, but Martin struggled to offer clinical/classy winning mahi.
NZW were valiant with their effort and intensity, yet the whole team couldn't slip into winning mode when required.
The loss of Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad, Dallin Watene-Zelezniak and Marcelo Montoya had a huge impact on this result. NZW are one of the best teams at eating up kick return metres and winning the early tackles, which was on display for the first quarter. Losing all three of these lads snatched away a key strength of NZW footy, especially against Matt Burton's kicking game.
I can't remember watching an NRL game in which the fullback and two wingers all left the field. The importance of these lads to the NZW footy flow can't be overlooked. NZW also displayed a grit in defence that we haven't seen much of this season and the two Bulldogs tries weren't due to defensive lapses.
The first was an intercept and the second was a kick to Adam Pompey's wing. Keep in mind that Pompey has been playing left centre and was only on the right wing because NZW were ravaged by injuries. The intercept try was part of an intriguing coaching battle...
NZW have scored tries off that play (half with two options, cut-out pass to the centre) this season but coach Cameron Ciraldo was ready for it and Bulldogs got an intercept. Both NZW tries came from set plays to balance this out though with a scrum shift putting Watene-Zelezniak over in the corner, then another NZW move down the short side; half/centre runs a decoy, forward/half out the back who passes to the winger.
The funky thing is that I haven't seen many scrum plays from NZW under coach Webster. Coach Ciraldo wouldn't have seen many NZW scrum plays on tape, so throwing one in for this game was a lovely move from coach Webster.
Now feels like a great time for the bye. There has been so much NZW mayhem over the past month, so let's take a week to chill out. NZW have two byes coming up and the only teams ahead of NZW on the ladder who have had just one bye are Cowboys (8th) and Roosters (3rd). The teams directly ahead of NZW all play each other next weekend as well..
Rabbitohs (13th) vs Dolphins (6th)
Broncos (11th) vs Dragons (10th)
Knights (9th) vs Sea Eagles (7th)
Titans (15th) and Eels (16th) play each other next week too. Titans have crept up to a point behind NZW on the ladder and Keano Kini continues to shine, perhaps making a case as the best Aotearoa Kiwis fullback contender right now. As much as I love the Nicoll-Klokstad style and will ride with him as the NZW/Kiwis fullback if he's healthy, Kini has speed that spices things up and he's a tough bugger.
Here are Kini's two seasons in the NRL...
2023
6 games, 1 linebreak, 104m/game, 65.2% tackling
2024
9 games, 3 tries, 4 try assists, 6 linebreaks, 202m/game, 74% tackling
Kini has three consecutive games with 200+ metres and five consecutive games with at least five tackle breaks, plus he has at least two offloads in four of his last five games.
Storm are the best team in the NRL. Will Warbrick has returned to play the last three games, all of which were wins, and he has gone from 131m/game last season up to 141m/game this season. Alec MacDonald also returned to the Storm team who defeated Tigers with his usual mahi of 5 runs - 46m @ 9.2m/run and 14 tackles @ 100%. MacDonald has no official missed tackles in six of his 12 games this season and this is a funky juncture for a check in with his NRL career...
2022: 12 games - 50% winning
2023: 12 games - 67% winning
2024: 12 games - 75% winning
Swinging back to NZW and Halasima's debut was awesome. I covered it in depth for a Kiwi-NRL Spotlight and that included a paragraph about 1st 15 rugby because all of the current young wave played 1st 15 rugby. Keep this tucked away for your own yarns and while I often present it as a niggle against rugby union, it can also be deployed when NZW say stuff like 'Halasima exploded onto the scene as a 17-year-old with the SG Ball Cup side last year'.
Prior to that, Halasima was making all sorts of rugby union and league representative teams while at Southern Cross Campus. Halasima was cracking union rep teams from a second tier 1st 15 school as well as NZRL rep teams as a notable junior league player.
Halasima is currently 18-years-old and was selected in this Blues U18 Development squad. The date which appears for that Google search is 27 September 2023 and there is no date on the squad announcement. That squad features lads like Etuate Fukofuka and Elijah Rasmussen who had already left school after 2022 to enter NRL pipelines (and others who weren't playing 1st 15 last year), which makes me think that it's a 2022 Blues U18 Development squad.
If that's from 2022, Halasima cracked the Blues U18 squad as a 16-year-old. I highly doubt a 17-year-old Halasima would make that squad after playing NSW Cup last year. Interestingly, Sio Kali was in the same squad via St Paul's College and he may have done so as a 16-year-old as well; Kali has flashed his talent a few times in NSW Cup this season as an 18-year-old.
White Ferns lost the first T20I against England, now 0-4 in this tour.
England scored 197/3 (9.8rpo) with Lea Tahuhu taking 2w @ 8.2rpo and Eden Carson taking 1w @ 13rpo. NZ responded with 1389/9 (6.9rpo) with Suzie Bates hitting 43 runs @ 130sr and Jess Kerr hitting 38 runs @ 146sr.
Tahuhu returned to the team and Hannah Rowe didn't play. Mikaela Greig still hasn't played a game on this tour, even though White Ferns have lost by hefty margins in every game. That's the same Greig who was the best batter in the one-day series win for NZ-A against England A last summer (144 runs @ 48avg/81sr). No Leigh Kasperek either.
White Ferns are 7-11 in T20Is since the start of 2023 and 1-5 vs England in T20Is this year. White Ferns T20I Stats vs England this year...
Batting
Suzie Bates: 156 runs @ 26avg/111sr
Amelia Kerr: 132 runs @ 33avg/118sr
Brooke Halliday: 103 runs @ 25avg/94sr
Sophie Devine: 77 runs @ 25avg/140sr
Izzy Gaze: 68 runs @ 17avg/128sr
Jess Kerr: 66 runs @ 33avg/135sr
Maddy Green: 42 runs @ 8avg/68sr
Georgia Plimmer: 34 runs @ 11avg/89sr
Lea Tahuhu: 32 runs @ 32avg/133sr
Bowling
Amelia Kerr: 6w @ 26avg/8.2rpo
Lea Tahuhu: 5w @ 26avg/8.3rpo
Rosemary Mair: 4w @ 37avg/7.5rpo
Sophie Devine: 4w @ 22avg/8.9rpo
Fran Jonas: 3w @ 53avg/7.5rpo
Suzie Bates: 2w @ 9avg/6rpo
Eden Carson: 1w @ 26avg/13rpo
Jess Kerr: 1w @ 128avg/6.7rpo
Hannah Rowe: 1w @ 72avg/10.2rpo
Broke Halliday: 2ov @ 11.5rpo
White Ferns form slumps vs England this year…
Maddy Green
ODIs: 18.2avg/53sr
T20Is: 8.4avg/69sr
Fran Jonas
ODIs: 73avg/4.9rpo
T20Is: 53avg/7.5rpo
Hannah Rowe
ODIs: 28.5avg/4.8rpo
T20Is: 72avg/10.2rpo
Georgia Plimmer
ODIs: 11.1avg/66sr
T20Is: 11.3avg/89sr
Tom Bruce hit 50* @ 139sr for Lancashire in their T20 Blast win over Worcestershire. Nathan Smith didn't play that game, while Bruce has 139 runs @ 23avg/117sr so far.
The Olympic golf team is locked in with Lydia Ko and Ryan Fox joined by Daniel Hillier. Ko is the only golfer ever to win two Olympic medals, while Fox and Hillier have both had phases of success on different circuits. Here is an Olympic golf results summary...
2016: Lydia Ko - 2nd, Danny Lee - 27th, Ryan Fox - 39th
2020: Lydia Ko - 3rd, Ryan Fox - 42nd
The Black Sticks Men's Olympic squad was named a few weeks ago as well. Notable inclusions are Simon Child, Kane Russell, Hugo Inglis and Sam Lane. I'm also eager to see the Morrison brothers in action on the Olympic stage. Here is a basic Black Sticks Men results summary per Wikipedia...
Olympics: 9th (2012), 7th (2016), 9th (2020
World Cup: 9th (2010), 7th (2014), 9th (2018), 7th (2023)
Commonwealth Games: 3rd (2010), 4th (2014), 2nd (2018), 5th (2022)
Musical jam…
Wildcard’s Notebook
Incredibly, newly minted NZ tennis representative Lulu Sun is now into the quarters of the women’s singles at Wimbledon. She won three straight matches in qualifying, now she’s won four more in the main event to make it all the way to the last eight. This whole Aotearoa allegiance seems to be agreeing with her. The latest win was out on centre-court against local favourite Emma Raducanu – coincidentally, both of them have Eastern European fathers and Chinese mothers and represent a different nation entirely.
Sun broke Raducanu’s first two serves on her way to taking the first set 6-2. Raducanu fought back in the second to win 7-5 and force a decider, but then ER needed some physio treatment after slipping on the baseline early in the third set. She was okay to continue, battling through an already sore back, however her performance dipped significantly after that point. Sun quickly broke serve and was able to hold the Englishwoman at bay for a 6-2 third set victory. Game, set, match.
Lulu Sun has been an uncovered gem for Tennis NZ... she’s also a bit of an uncovered gem on the ATP circuit overall. She’s actually two years older than Raducanu (and came into this game ranked higher due to ER’s injury-addled 2023... though Radu obviously has a much higher peak ranking as a past Grand Slam winner) but due to her time in the American college system this is only Sun’s second year as a senior pro and she’d only played one grand slam match prior to this (a first round exit at the Aussie Open). So the tennis world is learning about her, same as New Zealand is learning about her.
And the main thing to learn is that Lulu Sun plays awesome tennis. She’s very aggressive and she’s got good power. A left-hander who seeks to attack as often as possible. Against the much more defensive Raducanu, that saw her concede 44 unforced errors compared to only 21 from Raducanu. It also saw her hit 52 winners compared to only 19 from Radu. Sun’s first serve percentage was way down at 54% but when she got them on target she won 69% of the points, again a big advantage compared to her opponent who had 68% accuracy but only 54% success. Sun had four times as many net approach points and she won nearly all of them (23/28).
Remember too that we’ll see her at the Olympics in a few weeks playing doubles with Erin Routliffe – the only tennis reps we’ll have at Paris 2024 after Michael Venus and Marcus Daniell missed the allocation, which seems to prioritise players who are already competing in the singles event. Weird way to do it. Venus and Daniell won bronze last time and won’t get the opportunity to repeat. Venus is going strong at Wimbledon though. He and Neal Skupski (UK) won again this morning, knocking out an Aussie pair, in the Men’s Doubles to advance to the round of sixteen. He and Erin Routliffe are also still in action in the Mixed Doubles. Plus Routliffe and Gaby Dabrowski (CAN) are into the round of sixteen for the Women’s Doubles. Ironically, Routliffe and Venus will play against Dabrowski (and Harri Heliövaara of Finland) in the Mixed Doubles next round. All of these games have been very rain-affected over the past few days. That Mixed Doubles game is a first-rounder that keeps being delayed.
Another amazing sports story over the past week has been the progress of the Men’s U17 basketball team at the World Champs. The Aotearoa side beat hosts Turkey 114-94 in their first group game, blowing them away in the first half with Oscar Goodman scoring 26 points. They backed that up with an 89-81 win over Argentina as Troy Plumtree scored 22 points with 11 rebounds. Not so great in a 95-69 loss to Italy afterwards but no dramas because they were already through and happily mixed up the rotation with their entire 12-man roster getting at least eight minutes of action (and nobody more than 27 mins).
The first knockout round arguably gave them an easier tie than they’d had in any group stage fixture when Egypt stepped before then. The lads downed them 85-64 after again establishing a big lead in the first frame. Six different players scored in double digits there (Lachlan Crate, Hayden Jones, Oscar Goodman, Jackson Kiss, Troy Plumtree, and Mana Martin). Lithuania awaited in the quarters and boom 19 points from Goodman set up a 73-65 victory, with the kiwis rallying from a half-time deficit to claim victory.
They ran out of steam from there as they hit a USA team that the commentators were calling the best that the Americans have ever sent to one of these things... and considering that the USA have never lost a game at the U17 World Cup, that was saying something. Needless to say we capitulated 145-65. Then Turkey took revenge in the third-place game with a 101-78 result despite Goodman scoring another 25 points. So it goes. This was the only NZ basketball side to make a FIBA World Cup final four outside of the legendary 2022 Tall Blacks. Funnily enough, Hayden Jones’ dad played for that team.
Oscar Goodman was the star. He’s the only guy in this team not aligned with an Aotearoa NBL side because he’s hanging out at the Australian Centre of Excellence, which hosts the NBA Global Academy where Goodman and Julius Halaifonua are the two kiwis currently involved. Goodman previously attended New Plymouth High School. He was the MVP of the U17 Asia Cup last year and was picked for the All Star Five at these U17 World Champs.
This was the opposite of a one-man team though. This was a very well-rounded side that fought hard for each other and found contributions across the board. Standard kiwi basketball, in other words. Have a look at how many of the other lads have gotten opportunities in the local NBL this year (as under-17s in a men’s competition that’s got imports and internationals all over the place)...
Lachlan Crate (Manawatu) – 205:10 min | 42 pts
Hayden Jones (Nelson) – 181:54 min | 42 pts
Jackson Ball (Hawke’s Bay) – 162:42 min | 47 pts
Troy Plumtree (Wellington) – 75:44 | 22 pts
Mana Martin (Canterbury) – 29:30 min | 5 pts
Jackson Kiss (Auckland) – 7:32 min | 2 pts
James Matthews (Nelson) – 2:30 min | 2 pts
Jameer Reed (Auckland) – 2:08 min | 0 pts
Ihaka Cate (Canterbury) – 1:59 min | 0 pts
Hunter Te Ratana (Auckland) - N/A
Gus Dallow (Auckland) – N/A
The main Flying Kiwis transfer rumour right now is that Finn Surman is on the brink of a move to the Portland Timbers in MLS. FTBL.com.au were first to the ball on that one, reporting that the Wellington Phoenix will receive a “nominal fee” for Surman. That doesn’t sound like it’ll be a big number, probably because Surman only has one more year on his contract as opposed to Old and Paulsen who signed new multi-year deals prior to last season.
The MLS calendar means that if they don’t sign him now, they could pick him up for fee relatively early in their 2025 campaign so this was never going to be hefty currency. The Nix’s business model is to profit off these top prospects but the timing was wrong with this one. Surman would’ve needed to sign a new deal prior to last year except there was little incentive for him to do so coming off a previous term in which he hardly played and if he did well the following year (which he did) then a longer deal would have limited his transfer options. Don’t forget the plan was originally to add a second visa defender and it was only after Surman impressed in preseason that they changed their minds. But the Nix will still get something back and it all helps heading into a season when the league has absolutely slashed its contributions towards club finances. A sell-on clause wouldn’t go astray either.
MLS is another top tier competition that the Phoenix are supplying, following on from Alex Paulsen (English Premier League), Oskar Zawada (Dutch Eredivisie), and probably Ben Old (French Ligue 1). Not quite on par with those others though that should mean he can compete for playing opportunities from day one – keep in mind that Surman is younger than those others too. Guys like Michael Boxall and Bill Tuiloma have been able to settle into MLS long-term though you’d imagine Surman could use it as a platform to launch himself into Europe (it worked for Ryan Nelsen once upon a time).
The Timbers are coached by Phil Neville, which could be an attraction as far as networking goes (not so much as far as coaching goes based on previous coaching achievements). It’s also the MLS team with the most kiwi legacy. Bill Tuiloma played there for a long time, as did Jake Gleeson before him. Cameron Knowles (who is now an assistant coach to Boxy at Minnesota United) played for the Timbers before they made the MLS and also coached within the franchise. Stuart Holthusen was drafted by then, though never got signed. Plus Gavin Wilkinson played for them in the pre-MLS days, was briefly the interim coach, and spent a long time as the technical director with both the men’s Timbers and the women’s Thorns... until he got fired after being implicated in covering up a sexual misconduct issue with a previous Thorns coach.
Wellington Phoenix ALM Squad for 2024-25
GK: Alby Kelly-Heald (S)
RB: Tim Payne, Matt Sheridan (S)
CB: Scott Wootton, Isaac Hughes
LB: Sam Sutton, Lukas Kelly-Heald
CM: Alex Rufer, Mo Al-Taay, (Bozhidar Kraev)
FW: Kosta Barbarouses, Oskar van Hattum, David Ball, Luke Supyk, Gabriel Sloane-Rodrigues (S)
They began the offseason with 15 players under contract plus another three scholarship lads. They were also in negotiations with all of their free agents with the exception of the imports Oskar Zawada and Youstin Salas. That had them in a great position... however it has since also been confirmed that Nico Pennington has left for Perth Glory, while just this very arvo old mate Jack Duncan was unveiled for Melbourne Victory. Nevertheless, there’s hope that Bozhidar Kraev will return.
The (impending) departures of Alex Paulsen, Ben Old, and Finn Surman will leave a big hole in the starting eleven but it’s nothing that they won’t have planned for. Developing and then selling their best prospects is the club’s stated business model, perhaps the only sustainable one available to them in the ALM, and last season should fill folks with confidence that Giancarlo Italiano knows how to integrate youngsters into his squads.
Isaac Hughes should be able to fill in admirably enough for Surman. Fin Conchie is hopefully ready for a second season boost in that Pennington role. Right now they’re short on goalkeeping depth but if Jack Duncan does return then he’s probably earned first dibs at the starting spot. They’ll have to adapt the tactics without Ben Old though word on the street is that they’re close to agreeing with Marco Rojas for a Welly Nix return. Switch the midfield shape to get Rojas in as a ten and there ya go. Kosta Barbarouses already filled in beautifully for Zawada through most of last season. Oskar van Hattum’s hanging around too.
The real question is who steps up behind those guys. Alby Kelly-Heald is currently away with the NZ U19s... is he ready to be the back-up? Rumour is they may have added Christchurch keeper Dublin Boon to the academy after a year in the Roda JC system. Matt Foord is also with the Nix after starting at the U17 World Cup last year (another Cantabrian), while Eamonn McCarron has been getting some Central League reps.
In defence, they could probably use some more competition though the reserves are doing their job with blokes like Dylan Gardiner and Seth Karunaratne coming through as CBs. Xuan Loke and Lewis Partridge are two of the premier fullbacks in the system. The midfield is always stacked at the WeeNix. Academy systems always tend to produce quality technical midfielders. Fergus Gillion made his ALM debut last season. Hayden Thomas and Anaru Cassidy are in the mix, as are Lachlan Candy and Ryan Watson if you’re looking more attacking.
Then with the forwards, Luke Supyk is on a senior contract while Gabriel Sloane-Rodrigues has a long-term scholarship deal. Daniel Makowem’s having a good season. Nathan Walker’s a talent. And apparently they’ve invited Hamilton Wanderers’ Luke Brooke-Smith to join their preseason while there are similar rumours around Oskar Faulds. LBS only just turned 16 and is a regular starter for Wanderers in the Northern League. Faulds is a fair bit older at 22 but has some pro experience in Sweden and is scoring buckets for Napier City Rovers. Born and raised in Sweden but with split Kiwi-Swede heritage.
We’ll see how it goes but one thing you shouldn’t worry about with the Welly Nix blokes is that they’ll be caught unaware by player departures. They’ve planned way beyond this point. Just gotta hope the next blokes are as good as the last blokes... and remember that this time last year we were asking the same questions and look how that turned out.
Chatham Cup/Kate Sheppard Cup Roundup
All about those cups this week, folks, starting with the Kate Sheppard Cup because that’s one round deeper. The last eight teams did battle in the quarter-finals over the weekend and we definitely had some intrigue. Let’s start with the simplest game which was Franklin United up against Western Springs. Franklin were the lowest remaining club on the pyramid yet they threatened something special against the defending champs when Georgia Irvine scored first after only seven minutes. Alas, Springs were level by 11’ via Megan Lee and goals for Rina Hirano (67’) and Maia Lythe (72’) eventually gave them a 3-1 victory and progress into the semis. The other northern fixture was a replay of last week’s meeting between Auckland United and West Coast Rangers. AUFC were too good in the league match. They were too good in the cup match. Alexis Cook scored inside of two minutes and they went on to win 5-1 with the other goals coming courtesy of Dani Canham (22’), Chelsea Elliott (57’), Charlotte Roche (64’), and Saskia Vosper (71’), while former Footy Fern Emma Kete did at least get one back for the visitors (30’). And this was Auckland United without Michaela Foster.
Huge result down south where Dunedin City Royals won 1-0 against Cashmere Technical thanks to an 88th minute goal from Shontelle Smith. DCR boast the bulk of the Southern United team. CT boast a large chunk of Canterbury United. The outcome proved similar to how the National League table ended up in 2023. Cashmere Tech have been crushing teams this year, they won 10-0 last week but this result not only bounces them from the KSC... it also proves they’ve got competition in the Southern League when these two meet again at the end of the month.
Then also we had a funky clash between Waterside Karori and the Wellington Phoenix Reserves. The WeeNix compete in the U15 Boy’s league so this is their own competition against other women and they’ve been confidently striding through the rounds. Here they rode a first half penalty from Ella McCann (34’) and then a second-half double from Manaia Elliott (58’ & 77’) to victory... although two late goals from Emma Kruszona (86’) and Kennedy Bryant (90’) almost sparked a comeback. 3-2 the final score.
Over in the Chatham Cup we’re a round earlier in the action so this was top sixteen energies. The two typical favourites had no worries in progressing. Auckland City were away to third-tiered Cambridge FC, whose fairytale run almost took them into the sheds at 1-1 but City scored just before the break and went on to win 4-1. Then Wellington Olympic performed unholy acts upon Stop Out with an 8-0 win in which Gianni Bouzoukis and Ben Mata both scored hat-tricks.
Two more goals from Oscar Faulds took Napier City Rovers from a half-time deficit to a 2-1 win over Miramar Rangers. The blokes at Dunedin City could not match what the women achieved, instead losing 3-2 away to Otago University. All the goals were scored in the first half. Bit of an upset as Melville United were beaten 1-0 by Hibiscus Coast, Emmanuel Darkwa with the goal on 16’, making Otago Uni and Hibiscus Coast the only two second tier clubs left in the hat.
And that brings us to the extra time (and beyond) games. Ferrymead Bays vs Coastal Spirit was one of those. 2-2 at the end of ninety... but Coastal had more gas in the tank as Apisai Rabuka scored twice in extras on their way to a 5-3 victory. Manurewa and Onehunga Mangere had a Southern Auckland belter with OM scoring right at the end through Max Sutton to force extra time after a 2-2 draw only for Eber Ramirez to win it for Rewa in the 114th minute from the penalty spot. Finally, in a fascinating game between two National League hopefuls, Western Springs and Birkenhead United could not be separated after ninety minutes. Monty Patterson thought he’d won it on 83’ with his second of the day but Emiliano Tade immediately equalised. Reid Drake scored for Springs on 103’ only for Haris Zeb to level for Birko. That meant they still could not be separated after 120 minutes... and even the penalty shootout proved feisty before Birko eventually won that 6-5. The draw for the next rounds takes place tomorrow.
Musical Jam contribution...