Versatility Flow
White Ferns & Blackcaps, Warriors vs Raiders, All Whites injury list, A-Leagues, Tall Ferns, Kiwi-NRL, and more
Scotty’s Word
Blackcaps were pumped in their first T20I vs South Africa. These double headers are awesome and with each team in different stages of their T20I cycles, I’m far more interested in watching the women.
White Ferns are the main event. It’s informative that folks assume the men are the main event just because … they’re men. Blackcaps have their role to play in the Aotearoa cricket showcase but White Ferns vs South Africa has far more intrigue and intensity.
Blackcaps have a wide variety of players coming in and out of the squad. I’m curious about who stands out in multiple games but nothing major happened in the first game.
Two things I want to happen…
Zak Foulkes chipping in. A wicket or two every game and 10-20 runs with high strike-rates (140+).
Tim Robinson making us forget about Finn Allen and Devon Conway. Robinson has the potential to be an all-format batter and it starts by him being NZ’s best T20 batter this year.
My favourite thing in the White Ferns win was the batting oomph throughout their line up. I like this line up with Suzie Bates dropping way down the order and while I’m curious about how effective her slow bowling will be, she can add valuable runs down the order to balance things.
Georgia Plimmer scored 63 runs @ 143sr and every other batter who scored a run had strike-rates of at least 100. Although no other batter aside from Melie Kerr and Plimmer scored 15+ runs, White Ferns kept ticking along and it’s a funky luxury to have a talent like Izzy Sharp coming in at seven.
Plimmer is a player to watch out for because she is serving up career best mahi for White Ferns and Wellington. She hit her first 50 in Super Smash this summer and her T20I strike-rates point to huge development...
2022: 85
2023: 84
2024: 104.8
2025: 108.9
2026: 148
Kerr’s six T20I innings since the start of 2025...
vs Australia: 51* @ 111sr
vs Australia: 40 runs @ 111sr
vs Australia: 66 runs @ 140sr
vs Zimbabwe: 101 runs @ 198sr
vs Zimbabwe: 82 runs @ 158sr
vs South Africa: 78 runs @ 188sr
For paid subscribers
White Ferns bowling
Blackcaps all-rounder shortage!?
Even White Ferns are flush with all-rounders
NZ Warriors stats and deep cuts
NZ Warriors vs Canberra Raiders this weekend...
NRL: 40-6 win
NSW Cup: 44-12 win
Jersey Flegg Cup: 48-28
There was a drastic change in offloading for NZW as they adapted to conditions. NZW had 16 offloads vs Roosters and that flipped to two offloads vs Raiders. Everything else was fairly similar and the ability to deal with late/mid-game injuries has been a staple of NZW footy in the two Andys era just like high completions and minimal penalties conceded.
NZW dealt with Kurt Capewell’s injury by starting Leka Halasima in his place. That altered the Jacob Laban rotation as he is usually replaced by Halasima around half-time, but Jackson Ford covered Laban for his break at right edge.
When Chanel Harris-Tavita left the field, Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad moved to the halves and Taine Tuaupiki came on at fullback. When Nicoll-Klokstad left the field for his HIA, Wayde Egan came on and seemed to play in that halves role but that’s extreme and not part of the regular versatility flow.
The two lads who didn’t get game time vs Raiders were Morgan Gannon and Eddie Ieremia-Toeava. Both have played edge and middle this season for NZW, let alone Ieremia-Toeava playing centre as well. Gannon played 80 minutes in NSW Cup before filling an NRL bench spot, by the way.
The NSW Cup team also offered a funky example of versatility. Makaia Tafua played 75 minutes at hooker and Jacob Auloa came on to share the field with Tafua, playing as a small forward. Cassius Tia played in the halves when Jett Cleary had an HIA and then finished as a middle forward, replacing Tafua and Auloa went to hooker.
Tia was a half as a junior with Roosters and Bulldogs. Then he made the NSW Cup Team of the Year last season as a centre. In his first game for NZW, Tia played in the halves and as a small forward. He is the ideal bench player for this team right now and I reckon his best role in this team is small forward.
Will Warbrick’s mahi this season
vs Eels: 1 try, 16 runs - 146m @ 9.1m/run, 5 tackle breaks, 3 tackles @ 75%
vs Dragons: 1 try, 16 runs - 199m @ 12.4m/run, 2 linebreaks, 4 tackle breaks, 8 tackles @ 80%
Musical jam…
Nick’s Notebook
The FIFA Series games for the All Whites (coming up in two weeks) should be good fun, a celebratory send-off for the lads before they head to the World Cup in a couple months. But it also happens that there are a lot of dudes dealing with injuries at the moment. When that squad was named this morning it featured several notable absentees, as well as a couple more who might be ruled out between now and the window itself after picking up knocks over the weekend. Sit yourself down somewhere comfortable and have an update of the situation...
Chris Wood (Nottingham Forest) – Last played on 18 October... or as its known in Nottm Forest terms ‘two managers ago’. Had been dealing with an ongoing knee issue which came to light during All Whites duty, leading NFFC media to keep lazily claiming that he got injured on international break rather than the truth which is that he was already injured when he arrived. Anyway, it’s a cartilage issue and they tried to let it settle naturally before opting for surgery around Xmas. He’s not been ruled out for the season. He’s still included in NFFC’s Premier League and Conference League squads. Expectation is that he’ll return in 4-5 weeks if all continues according to plan, as it has done thus far.
Sarpreet Singh (Wellington Phoenix) – Last played on 13 February when he copped some knee to knee damage on his loan return to the Nix. He came back seeking minutes but alas also got exposed to the Phoenix’s medical team (it’s insane how the club with among the best facilities in the league, as voted by players on both the men’s and women’s side, continually have so many injuries). Turned out to be an MCL injury with an eight-week recovery period. He’s about halfway through that now.
Matthew Garbett (Peterborough United) – Last played 31 January... then showed up in a moon boot for the next match with the Posh boss explaining that he’d been playing through a foot complaint and that they’d decided to let him rest it before it got any worse. The target was for him to return against Leyton Orient this weekend but that game went by without any sight of him. His coach told media that Garbs is still getting injections in his heel and hasn’t been able to resume full training yet. However, “he will be playing football for Peterborough in the near future” so shan’t be much longer to wait.
Liberato Cacace (Wrexham) – Last played 7 February but has been in and out with muscle injuries all season despite been almost entirely injury-free his whole career until then. Missing out on almost all of preseason due to his late transfer was probably not the best for his overall fitness, to be honest. Libby was said to be close to returning until his coach announced last week that there’d been a setback. Sounds like a couple more weeks at least.
Ryan Thomas (PEC Zwolle) – Last played 13 March, except he went off injured after thirty minutes. That’s the second time in three games that Thommo has limped out of a game, having entirely skipped the match before that. Given his history, Thomas is more cautious than most with these things and had already been managing some sort of complaint, including playing with pain-killers. The club have been giving him an extra day off for recovery after games. Problem is, he’s a key player for Zwolle and they’re trying to ensure they dodge relegation so it’s tough to find time to rest him.
Oli Sail (Auckland FC) – Last played on 31 January when he tore his ACL whilst taking a goal kick. He’s the only one of these players who has been ruled out of the World Cup and he’s the one who was least likely to be included anyway.
Bill Tuiloma (Wellington Phoenix) – Last played on 14 March. The Nix won and he experienced his first clean sheet as a Nix starter... but he also unlaced his boots and walked off after 76 minutes with a sore hammy. Didn’t look too serious but remember this is a bloke who has struggled for match fitness over the last few years, leaving him prone to muscle injuries. When he finally got a run in the Charlotte FC team last year, it ended due to a hamstring strain. He’s just made six consecutive starts for the Nix. An injury at some stage should have been paying very low odds... sounds like this one was nothing that’ll bother him after a couple days of rest though.
Elijah Just (Motherwell) – Last played on 14 March when he got hacked to pieces in a loss against Celtic (though still scored a goal), eventually limping off the pitch after the third instance of a dude getting yellow carded for chopping him down. The first of those required some bandaging on his shin after ex-Arsenal and Liverpool midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain got him. But he should be fine, despite his coach saying that he “looks like he’s been to war” after that match. Only bruises, nothing broken.
Nando Pijnaker (Auckland FC) – Last played on 17 February. He was injured for most of preseason after needing ankle surgery and is now dealing with another ankle complaint - this time a sprain suffered in training. Pesky season for ol’ Nando who hasn’t actually gotten on the field for the national team since November 2024. Should be back soon but has work to do to ensure he’s in that World Cup squad.
Michael Boxall (Minnesota United) – Last played on 28 February when he was smacked in the face in a dirty move that somehow avoided any punishment, causing him to be substituted due to a poke in the eye. He’s since missed two games although the eye is fine - this was for a separate adductor issue. First games he’s missed due to injury for four years which is a crazy thing to say about a long-time pro in his mid-30s. Boxy isn’t expected to be out much longer, fingers crossed we see him in the next couple weeks. The Loons were just thrashed 6-0 without him.
Dalton Wilkins (Sønderjyske) – Last played 16 February. Injuries are the natural habitat for Wilkins, sadly. After missing much of last season and therefore falling down the pecking order, Sonders sent him out on loan to the second tier in Denmark to find some match fitness. He promptly got injured. They recalled him in January after some other injuries in the squad left them in need of depth, and in his first game back he came off the bench to win a penalty for the decisive goal as Sonders beat Callum McCowatt’s Silkeborg team 2-1. Then he got injured again and hasn’t featured since.
You could pick a pretty decent starting eleven from those injuries...
Sail
Tuiloma – Boxall – Pijnaker – Wilkins
Thomas - Garbett
Just – Singh - Cacace
Wood
As I said, a couple of them are mostly just precautionary things. The All Whites squad for the FIFA Series games was named this morning (I’ll write about it in full in a couple days) and Just, Thomas, and Tuiloma were all included. Remains to be seen if any of them will need to be replaced between now and then... Thomas is the most likely to dip out, he’s not one to take risks with his fitness, although he’s also made it clear he’s desperate to be involved at the World Cup. He may feel, with his lack of All Whites game time over recent years, that he needs to be around. He may also just not be that badly injured. We’ll see, we’ll see. NZF’s squad announcement specifically said that Wood, Cacace, Garbett, Boxall, Singh, and Pijnaker are all expected to be fit in time for the World Cup. We already knew that but it’s nice to have it reiterated.
All Whites Squad Depth for FIFA Series in Auckland
GK – Crocombe | Paulsen | Woud
RB – Payne | Elliot
CB – Surman | Tuiloma
CB - Bindon
LB – De Vries | McGarry
CM – Bell | Rufer
CM – Stamenic | Thomas
RW – McCowatt | Rogerson
CAM – Just | Bayliss
LW – Old | Randall
CF – Waine | Barbarouses | De Jong
Unusually light on defenders there... would imagine that FDV or Payne are options to cover central defence. Remember that Ben Old has exclusively been playing LB for St-Etienne too so that’s another alternative, even if he’s going to be more needed in attack. Michael Woud will carry drinks as the third keeper... don’t assume this means he’s ahead of guys like Gray, Sims, or Tzanev - it’s more that it’s a bit rude to fly them around the world with no chance of playing when they’ve all got important club stuff to bother with. Deserved recall for Woud though, even if it’s under those circumstances. He’s been excellent since he got dropped by Auckland FC.
Lachlan Bayliss is the lone uncapped dude and it’s kinda tough to see where he gets his minutes in this squad, though it’ll help that he covers all of the midfield and wing positions. Glad that he’s at least going to get a chance.
Players In This Squad Still Competing For World Cup Spots:
Woud, Elliot, Tuiloma, McGarry, Rogerson, De Jong, Bayliss
Pretty sure these players are already locked in for the World Cup…
GK - Max Crocombe, Alex Paulsen
DEF - Michael Boxall, Finn Surman, Tyler Bindon, Tim Payne, Liberato Cacace, Francis de Vries
MID - Joe Bell, Marko Stamenic, Ryan Thomas, Matt Garbett, Alex Rufer
FWD - Sarpreet Singh, Elijah Just, Callum McCowatt, Ben Old, Chris Wood, Jesse Randall, Ben Waine, Kosta Barbarouses
That’s 21 players, with a further five to be added:
Michael Woud is competing with Kees Sims, Henry Gray, and Nik Tzanev for GK3.
There’ll be another fullback in there with McGarry, Elliot, and Tuiloma challenging blokes such as Storm Roux, Sam Sutton, Lukas Kelly-Heald, and Dalton Wilkins.
Probably another central defender too, where Tuiloma butts heads with George Stanger, Nando Pijnaker, Tommy Smith, and Isaac Hughes.
Midfield is where Lachlan Bayliss and Owen Parker-Price could be duelling it out.
And that’d leave room for one more forward, probably a winger, with Logan Rogerson and Andre De Jong, possibly Bayliss as well, pushing for one spot. Luke Brooke-Smith’s case is sinking but he’s an alternative.
One thing from each of the victorious NZ A-League teams...
Wellington Phoenix Men – Chris Greenacre changed some things! After two baffling weeks of trying to play the same footy as the Nix were doing under Chiefy, with the same players and formation and everything, Greenacre went with a back four and allowed players to do what they do best... and they promptly grabbed a crucial clean sheet victory (snapping a personal drought of 25 matches without a cleanie for Josh Oluwayemi). Manjrekar James, Matt Sheridan, and Carlo Armiento all dropped to the bench. Dan Edwards made his first start since Derby #2. Would still like to see more Luke Brooke-Smith but this was much more like it from the Phoenix, drawing a line in the sand between the last regime and this interim one, giving themselves a chance to play for something over the remainder of the season. Dunno why it took three games to get here but there we go.
Wellington Phoenix Women – Bev Priestman was careful with her words pre-game about reintegrating Macey Fraser after she returned to training during the international break. Then she subbed her on at half-time of the very next match and Fraser looked as good as she always did. Might take some time to get the links going with the strikers ahead of her but she was bright on the ball and worked hard without it. For a team whose season has been continually punctuated by long-term injuries, being able to add Macey Fraser into the mix as they round the home straight challenging for a minor premiership is a massive boost.
Auckland FC - Jesse Randall has five goals and four assists in his last nine matches for AFC. Luka Vicelich made his debut, becoming the club’s youngest A-League player. Michael Woud and Logan Rogerson have earned All Whites recalls. Jake Girdwood-Reich and Dan Hall are quiet possibly in career-best form right now. Sam Cosgrove and Guillermo May have figured out how to play together. They keep getting great results when Cam Howieson starts. The win away in Newcastle revives their premiership defence. Yeah, can’t limit lot to just that to one idea.
Musical Jam...
