Up The Escalator
All Whites vs Colombia, Blackcaps ODIs, Hallyburton Johnstone Shield & Ford Trophy, Wellington Phoenix Wahine, NZ National League, Kiwi-NRL prospects & more
Scotty’s Word
Blackcaps are 15-3 in ODIs this year after their win vs West Indies and Daryl Mitchell has the highest batting average for all kiwis who have scored 1,000+ runs...
Daryl Mitchell: 53.13
Kane Williamson: 48.69
Luteru Taylor: 47.55
Glenn Turner: 47
Devon Conway: 44.52
Rachin Ravindra: 42.31
Auckland offered the best concentration of emerging players in the first stanza of Ford Trophy...
Harrish Kannan (21yrs): 164 runs @32.8avg/63sr
Ryan Harrison (26yrs): 131 runs @ 32.7avg/113sr | 6w @ 26avg/5.5rpo
Bevon Jacobs (23yrs): 130 runs @ 32.5avg/99sr
Jock McKenzie (24yrs): 102 runs @ 34avg/89sr | 8w @ 26.7avg/5.6rpo
Simon Keene (24yrs): 63 runs @ 15.7avg/82sr | 9w @ 26.1avg/5.5rpo
Adithya Ashok (23yrs): 74 runs @ 37avg/140sr | 8w @ 22.7avg/5.2rpo
Rohit Gulati (27yrs): 4w @ 18.5avg/3.7rpo
There is also a group of players who are 21-years-old or younger who have had a funky taste of domestic cricket. After a couple games I highlighted Xavier Bell (19yrs - ND), Toby Findlay (21yrs - CD) and Kannan when they had played the first three games. Since then, the following youngsters have been in the mix...
Snehith Reddy (18yrs - ND): 2 games with 55 runs @ 86sr (not dismissed in his last three innings)
Jaskaran Sandhu (18yrs - Auckland): 1 game with 12 runs @ 109sr | 5ov @ 8.6rpo
Aryan Mann (19yrs - ND): 1 game as wicket-keeper
Thomas O’Connor (21yrs - Otago): 2 games with 1w @ 55avg/4.5rpo
Raunaq Kapur (21yrs - Canterbury) 2 games with 3w @ 29avg/4.8rpo
Plunket Shield starts on Tuesday so here is a refresher of the best players from the 2024/25 Plunket Shield...
Nicky Kelly: 749 runs @ 57.6avg/61sr
Rhys Mariu: 747 runs @ 74.7avg/69sr
Dane Cleaver: 736 runs @ 92avg/52sr
Logan van Beek: 36w @ 20.6avg/3rpo
Liam Dudding: 29w @ 23.8avg/3.3rpo
Auckland and Central Districts had two wins each to start HBJ Shield, which means Otago and Canterbury had two losses. Northern Districts and Wellington split their weekend series with a win each. CD’s two wins were at their home grounds in New Plymouth so I’m more interested in Auckland’s sweep in Dunedin.
Almost all of Auckland’s team did something over the weekend...
Prue Catton: 112 runs @ 112avg/82sr
Maddy Green: 74 runs @ 72avg/72sr
Brooke Halliday: 52 runs @ 73sr
Fran Jonas: 5w @ 9.6avg/3.4rpo
Amie Hucker: 5w @ 12.2avg/3.5rpo
Maddy Green: 3w @ 9.3avg/3.1rpo
Josie Penfold: 3w @ 15.3avg/4.1rpo
Molly Penfold: 3w @ 15.6avg/3.6rpo
Meanwhile, Saffron Wilson was the only Otago batter who scored 50+ runs in the two games combined and there were only two Otago bowlers who took a wicket (Louisa Kotkamp and Emma Black). That’s a crazy start for Otago on home turf.
Suzie Bates only played the Saturday game and scored a duck. Here are her recent scores: 10, 19, 0, 0, 29, 1, 10, 0
2025/26 Ford Trophy: Round Five Basics
2025 West Indies Tour Of New Zealand: T20 Series Debrief
2025/26 Ford Trophy: Five Best Players From The First Stanza
I have a few more HBJ Shield notes and more Daryl Mitchell/Kyle Jamieson stuff beyond the paywall for paid subscribers and the Patreon whanau. I also explore the increasing Kiwi-NRL flavour at Panthers and Rabbitohs, plus there is an early summer list of my top 10 NZ Warriors juniors yet to debut.
More prep mahi for the annual Kiwi-NRL juniors who helped Australia teams win in 2025 (U19/U21ish)...
U20 NRLQ - Dolphins
Patrick Kailahi (Hamilton Boys): 5 games
Elijah Rasmussen (Westlake Boys): 3 games
Sangstar Figota (Marist): 1 game
Adaquix-Jeramiah Watts-Luke (Papatoetoe RU): 1 game
U19 Mal Meninga Cup - Burleigh
Disharne Tonihi (Shirley): 9 games
Antonio Verhoeven (Cobden Kohinoor): 11 games | 2 games of NRLQ (Broncos)
Marley Igasan (Otumoetai): 11 games | 4 games of NRLQ (Broncos)
Kaea Cribb (Te Iti Raerea): 2 games
Tama Te Ahorangi Darlington (Waikato): 2 games
U21 Jersey Flegg Cup - Storm
K-Ci Newton-Whare (Riccarton): 18 games
Josiah-Ekkehard Neli (Hornby): 13 games
U19 SG Ball Cup - Roosters
Jackson Stewart (Hornby): 11 games (11 games of U21)
EJ Mahu-Delamere (Papatoetoe)
Kanaan Magele (De La Salle College): 11 games (10 games of U21)
Phillip Lavakeiaho (Wesley College): 12 games (7 games of U21 - Rabbitohs now)
Musical jam…
Nick’s Notebook
The All Whites lost 2-1 to Colombia on Sunday, conceding very early but fighting back in the second half to seemingly be on course for a famous draw against one of South America’s best after Ben Old’s equaliser... only to concede a stupidly sloppy goal with a few mins to go. At least losing 2-1 is better than losing 1-0 for a team that usually struggles to score goals against top nations. Still frustrating though, especially with the nature of how they conceded from a long ball down the middle that they simply didn’t deal with properly.
Nevertheless, this was another instance of the All Whites going toe to toe with a much more pedigreed opponent. Even though we’re still losing most of these matches, we’re not getting thrashed. Each and every time they’re keeping it close and as competitive as possible... and gotta remember that the lads were without Chris Wood, Libby Cacace, Ryan Thomas, Callum McCowatt, Tim Payne, and Alex Paulsen for this game. And while we also can’t seem to score twice against such teams, we aren’t getting blanked like we used to either. These are the results since we secured qualification for the World Cup (almost none of which have been full capacity squads due to various injuries)...
W 1-0 vs Ivory Coast
L 1-2 vs Ukraine
L 0-1 vs Australia
L 1-3 vs Australia
L 0-1 vs Poland
D 1-1 vs Norway
L 1-2 vs Colombia
The first game against Aussie and this Colombia game both involved late winning goals being conceded. That’s pretty pesky. Can’t be doing that. But scoring in 5/7 games is decent given our previous context – remember Danny Hay’s tenure ended with five scoreless games in a row including a World Cup playoff. And it’s not like Chris Wood is scoring them all – there have been five different scorers in those five games: Eli Just, Marko Stamenic, Chris Wood, Finn Surman, Ben Old. These are signs of progress. They’d feel a lot more progressive if we’d gotten draws against Aussie and Colombia though.
Three players who stood out against Colombia: Joe Bell had his best game for a wee while, absolutely bossing the midfield with that wonderful anticipation to always be where those clearances land, allowing him to constantly recycle those NZ attacks; Sarpreet Singh looked wonderful, showing a lot of strength to hold the ball and also doing plenty of defensive work too... it was his lovely work that set up Ben Old for the tap in goal; and Finn Surman, good lord, what a player to have when he’s just hurling himself in front of everything. The Portland Timbers are already talking about trying to get him on a new contract after he led the entire MLS in defensive clearances for 2025.
Selections here showed that Bill Tuiloma has the edge as Tim Payne’s right-back deputy and Kosta Barbarouses has the edge as Chris Wood’s striker deputy. Tuiloma’s probably best as a centre-back but he’s not gonna make the team in that position, particularly since he’s barely played there for two years at club level. Tuiloma’s barely played fullstop for two years but when he has it’s usually been as a right-sided fullback and that’s where his All Whites World Cup hopes lie. I thought he did alright in this game. Not very dynamic but he’s a set piece target and he swings in a nice cross. Barbarouses was also decent, involved in a couple chances, though you never really feel like he’s going to score in these games. He never does. But in his case there’s not much competition with Ben Waine so out of favour at Port Vale and Andre de Jong not a natural number nine. Jesse Randall’s the one he might want to watch out for, though Randall’s probably more of a wing prospect.
Last week brought us the Kiwi Derby in the Men’s A-League, this week brought us the Kiwi Derby in the Women’s A-League... as the Wellington Phoenix hosted Newcastle Jets at Porirua Park. Okay, technically, Newcastle is an Australian club... but they hired NZ National League legend Stephen Hoyle as their new coach and he went and signed four New Zealanders, all as imports. Anna Leat and Charlotte Lancaster both started while Kelli Brown and Olivia Page featured from the bench (same as in week one – they had a bye last week). Brooke Nunn scored early, from a Pia Vlok assist, but then a slippery penalty allowed Melina Ayres to equalise midway through the first half and it ended 1-1 despite both teams creating some good chances.
Of the four Jets NZers, Anna Leat was by far the most consequential. Lancaster didn’t do a lot at left wing-back and was subbed after 55 mins. Fellow former Phoenix player Kelli Brown had a few moments with her energy off the bench but only played about twenty minutes. Olivia Page got even less, on as a right wing-back, though she’s the least proven of the four so you’d expect her to have to earn what she gets.
But Anna Leat was awesome, making one amazing save off Alyssa Whinham, and really shining with the range of her distribution (although her Jets forwards let her down on the end of the long balls – the Nix were gobbling those up). As expected, Anna Leat is instantly one of the A-League’s finest goalkeepers and it took her one appearance to earn a Football Ferns recall.
For the Nix, they looked a lot more cohesive in this second match of the season having shed those initial nerves. The 3-4-2-1 formation that they used here worked quite well with that box midfield and their array of attack-minded wing-backs. Brooke Nunn played RWB for the most part with Whinham used as a ten. That was a better arrangement than the opposite against Canberra – although they were interchangeable (until Whinham had an injury scare after hyperextending her knee and Manaia Elliott came on).
Grace Jale and CJ Bott in the midfield was certainly not what anyone predicted but there are good reasons to think both can make a success of that positional switch. CJB’s case is very similar to what Ria Percival did at around the same age. Jale played a lot in the midfield in youth footy though has always been seen as a more attacking player in the pro/international stuff. I think she’s much better when she’s getting involved earlier in the play and her ability to hit long switches and shots will help (she fluffed two huge attacking chances in this game which is another reason not to have her as a striker).
Samba Bhandari and Tessel Middag were both ruled out injured late in the week which added to an unavailabilities list that also included Lucia Leon, Macey Fraser, and Tiana Jaber. Three of their five imports were out plus at least one other starting level player, maybe two (I don’t think Jaber starts ahead of Walker-Barry-MVDM but you never know). And yet I thought the Nix played really well. I liked the way they worked with the wing-backs, I liked the hustle in the midfield, I liked the way they played with attacking intent. Just the decisions at the end of those attacks which let them down. But they’re undefeated after two games for the first time in their five-year existence and that’s worth something.
All those injuries meant that Pia Vlok started this game. Incredible rise for one of Aotearoa’s top prospects – Vlok has been impressing for Auckland United in the National League since she was 15 years old (although she didn’t actually feature all that often since she mostly played boy’s U17 footy – a trend she had in common with Milly Clegg at the same age). The dates didn’t align for Vlok to break Clegg’s youngest player record at the club and she missed out on matching Ela Jerez in second place by one day. Vlok only just got back from captaining NZ at the U17 World Cup.
She wasn’t the only one given a boost in this game either... Lily Brazendale debuted off the bench, another teenager who was part of the NZ U19s that won the Oceania Championships a few months back. Originally from Hamilton, absolute speedster up top. LB’s got a decent goal scoring record too. No relation to Daisy Brazendale (from Nelson) by the way.
Wellington Phoenix – Youngest Ever ALW Players
17y 19d – Milly Clegg (20/11/22)
17y 64d – Ela Jerez (8/2/25)
17y 65d – Pia Vlok (8/11/25)
17y 188d – Brooke Neary (20/4/25)
17y 267d - Zoe McMeeken (03/12/21)
17y 322d - Daisy Brazendale (28/01/24)
18y 27d - Mona Walker (03/12/21)
18y 38d - Alyssa Whinham (03/12/21)
Wellington Phoenix Women Academy Debuts
2023-24: Macey Fraser, Aimee Danieli, Ella McMillan, Daisy Brazendale, Helena Errington, Olivia Ingham, Manaia Elliott
2024-25: Brooke Neary, Ela Jerez
2025-26: Lily Brazendale
The Last Time The NZ Breakers Won Consecutive Games...
MNL Team of the Week #8
GK – Adam Braman (Coastal Spirit) – Heroic stuff from the Coastal keeper who saved a penalty and continually denied the WeeNix right up until a late winner spoiled what would have been a deserved clean sheet.
RB – Lewis Partridge (Wellington Phoenix) – The calibre of crosses this bloke was putting into the area for his strikers to continually not score from was crazy. Partridge was back at his 2024 levels with this one.
CB – Theo Ettema (Miramar Rangers) – We all love a goal-scoring centre-back, right? Scored one and then shut out Auckland City at the other end in a win that keeps Rangers right there on the tails of the top two.
CB – Adama Coulibaly (Auckland FC) – The AFC Reserves were already on a wonderful run of form but beating Wellington Olympic? That tops everything. Coulibaly played CB and he was outstanding, reading the play and shifting that ball. Looked as locked-in as I’ve ever seen him.
LB - Dylan Gardiner (Wellington Phoenix) – He’s just such a dominant central defender when he’s on song... and he’s usually on song. Not sure why he’s been overlooked for scholarship contracts when he’s so often putting in performances like he did in the narrow win vs Coastal.
CM – Finn McKenlay (Auckland FC) – Steve Corica, I hope you were watching. This brother can’t do any more than he currently is to demand a spot in the A-League side. Perhaps the Jake Brimmer injury will open up a spot on the bench?
CM – Hideto Takahashi (Auckland United) – The Master, honestly. Auckland United were 2-1 down when Takahashi set up an equaliser, scored a winner, and then also made a courageous goal-line block to preserve that scoreline. He was magnificent. He won the game for his team.
CM – Andy Bevin (Miramar Rangers) – A major reason why Miramar beat ACFC was the way they not only coaxed them into a very physical game but then cleverly used their quick feet and anticipation to hold the ball or win fouls. Nobody exemplified that better than Bevin.
FW - Owen Smith (Miramar Rangers) – The Assist King-in-waiting of this year’s National League with a surely unassailable lead. Smith set up all three goals in a 3-0 win against Auckland City. The first was a penalty that he won. The other two from delicious free kick crosses.
FW – Shogo Osawa (Christchurch United) – No idea why he hasn’t been starting games but he was back in the eleven this week and promptly scored twice as the Rams bagged their first win since week two... which was also the last game that Osawa started.
FW – Luke Flowerdew (Wellington Phoenix) – The reason that Braman didn’t get his cleanie. This bloke makes the cut as a substitute, having lost his starting place to accommodate almost the entire bench from the last A-League game (international window and all that) but while they all floundered, Flowerdew came on and won the game. He’s been fantastic this year.
Musical Jam...
