Vibe Conductor
All Whites & White Ferns at World Cups, Blackcaps vs England, Warriors/Kiwi-NRL, Tim Payne in Paraguay, and more
Scotty’s Word
After losses against West Indies and Sri Lanka, the White Ferns seem likely to miss the T20 World Cup semi-finals and that’s far more common than most would assume. White Ferns won the 2024 T20WC but that is the only time they have made the semi-finals in the last eight World Cups.
Prior to the championship they missed the semi-finals in three consecutive T20WC and they have missed the semi-finals in three ODIWC in a row. New Zealand can’t be a top-four team in women’s cricket if they rarely make semi-finals and while the ODI team has been refreshed since last year’s ODIWC, offering a completely different vibe to the T20I group, the T20I outfit keeps the gloomy flame alive.
Coach Ben Sawyer and his staff have made some strange decisions for this tournament… as well as watching the fielding standards fall off a cliff. All year I have pondered what will happen with Suzie Bates as she wasn’t offering much with bat or ball. While I didn’t think she should be 1st 11, there seemed to be a plan to roll with Bates in the 1st 11 through the T20WC.
I was preparing for that and was open to Bates holding down a vibe conductor role in the team.
After months of planning and preparation, Bates wasn’t selected vs Windies and then didn’t play against Sri Lanka either.
Lea Tahuhu also hasn’t played those games. Meanwhile, Rosemary Mair is averaging 127 in T20I bowling this year - that’s the same as Glenn Phillips’ Test batting average in 2026.
Mair is in her second year of T20I bowling averaging 100+ and Tahuhu has never averaged 30+ in 15 years of T20I bowling. Tahuhu is averaging 20 this year and has averaged over 25 in just one of her last seven years.
Big ups Brooke Halliday who hit her second 40+ score in 47 T20I innings with 40 runs vs Windies. Halliday could bowl but she doesn’t in T20Is so she is an automatic 1st 11 player with 15.4avg/100sr this year and 14.5avg/98sr in her career.
Halliday has played all 13 T20Is this year and Mair is third for the most overs bowled behind the Kerr sisters. These two are playing big roles for White Ferns in T20Is despite not doing much to warrant those roles and this, along with goofy selection planning, is a recipe for bad juju. Bad juju that flows through the mangroves…
Sophie Devine is the most expensive NZ bowler this year and her 7.8rpo makes her the only bowler over 7rpo with 10+ overs.
Bowlers who haven’t taken a wicket at T20WC: Devine (5.3ov), Mair (8ov), A-Kerr (8ov)
Georgia Plimmer’s recent T20I scores: 1, 4, 29, 27, 0, 0, 8, 18.
Plimmer’s strike-rate has progressed but she is still averaging under 21 in both formats and hasn’t climbed over 20avg in 5 years of T20I batting...
Izzy Sharp has struggled to elevate to the T20WC level after decent scores vs Sri Lanka, South Africa, England. Sharp’s T20I scores: 0, 8*, 17*, 22*, 18*, 4, 29, 7*, 26*, 0, 5, 0.
White Ferns now play Ireland on Saturday morning followed by Scotland on Tuesday night. They should win both games and I’m guessing they would need to do something crazy against England to have a chance at making the semi-finals. The grim vibe isn’t a good sign though and the journey of White Ferns under coach Sawyer continues to be one of the odd high point, with many deep dark lows.
Glenn Phillips is my best Blackcaps batter right now. He is the only Aotearoa batter with 60+ runs in this series vs England and Phillips is well above that mark on 127 runs @ 127avg/77sr after his 49* on the first day. That puts Phillips third for Blackcaps Test runs this year as one of three batters with 100+ runs and he doesn’t even have a 50+ score yet this year.
Phillips is another Blackcap who is better overseas than in Aotearoa and he is currently averaging 30+ in all three formats. The other contender for the best batter is Rachin Ravindra and Phillips matches his 40+ average/100+ strike-rate zone in ODIs, is better in T20Is and climbing up towards Ravindra’s Test mahi.
This could open up space to shake up the Blackcaps top-five. Phillips is the best batter in this series yet he’s chillin’ at number seven in the line up, where he has 37.9avg/76sr. I’m not desperate to change Phillips’ role as he’s awesome down the order. I reckon he should settle in the number five position over the next couple of years which would allow for Phillips and Mitchell Santner to play in the same team.
For paid subscribers
Spotlights on Glenn Phillips, Tom Latham and Devon Conway
NZ Warriors per game stat rankings
NZ Warriors back five running mahi vs Sharks
Jett Cleary vs Luke Metcalf
Bulldogs Kiwi-NRL juniors returning to Aotearoa vs NZW
NZ Warriors are in Christchurch to play Cowboys and the two lower grades will play against Bulldogs. Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad played 40 minutes on the wing vs Sharks in place of Alofiana Khan-Pereira and I was pretty impressed with how Nicoll-Klokstad took his opportunity as someone who has started all backline positions except for halfback in his career.
Nicoll-Klokstad had twice as many runs as Khan-Pereira, who was probably injured for the last phase of the first half. Nicoll-Klokstad averaged 8.2m/run vs Sharks which was slightly below Khan-Pereira’s 8.3m/run but these two averaged the most metres per run for the back five vs Sharks.
I prefer Taine Tuaupiki at fullback over Nicoll-Klokstad but this is another example of the depth available to NZW. Nicoll-Klokstad isn’t quite at the Roger Tuivasa-Sheck level of 8/10 in all outside back positions, but he is solid regardless of his position and when battling so many injuries, players like Nicoll-Klokstad are valuable.
Another thing to ponder is the perception that Panthers and Sharks forward packs have dominated the NZW forwards. The entire Panthers and Sharks teams won the physicality battles vs NZW which goes beyond the forward packs. Sharks for example monstered NZW when they went to the edges where one, maybe two, forwards are involved in the tackles.
I don’t think that will happen against Cowboys. I have been impressed with how the NZW identity and playing style was shown vs Panthers/Sharks despite missing six top-10 players. This highlights how the roots run deep for NZW as a younger team has been able to roll out the grind against two teams who have such effort and intensity in their footy identity.
Cowboys are different. They are a vibrant attacking team with a lighting fast backline, but gritty footy is not in their identity. Their defence is nothing like Panthers or Sharks, nor is their collective intensity in winning every tackle. Regardless of whether the Aussies back up etc, I reckon NZW can roll out a similar performance to their recent losses and get the win in Christchurch.
Griffin Neame will return to the South Island as part of the Cowboys team. He is from Greymouth but spent a few seasons playing with Halswell in Christchurch. Northland’s Wiremu Greig is also in the wider squad for Cowboys but probably won’t play, having worked his way back into the NRL mix with Cowboys after dipping last year with Eels.
Another thing for Cowboys is that Mason Barber will move to Perth Bears. Barber joins Te Hurinui Twidle in moving to Perth and that means that two of the best young play-makers from Aotearoa will be part of Perth’s squad. Barber is from Kaikohe and his best position is fullback, while Twidle is a Turangawaewae junior who made his NRL debut on the wing but usually plays fullback or halves with Eels.
Musical jam...
Nick’s Notebook
Players Who Scored Multiple Goals in their World Cup Openers...
Lionel Messi (Argentina) – 3 goals
Folarin Balogun (USA) – 2 goals
Yasin Ayari (Sweden) – 2 goals
Kai Havertz (Germany) – 2 goals
Elijah Just (New Zealand) – 2 goals
Erling Haaland (Norway) – 2 goals
Kylian Mbappe (France) – 2 goals
Harry Kane (England) – 2 goals
Nice grouping there of some of the world’s most potent attacking footballers. Good company for Eli Just to be keeping. But what stood out about Just’s performance against Iran wasn’t only the two sumptuous goals that he scored or his fantastic combinations with Chris Wood – we’ll call that combo Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) – but also how immense his workrate was. Not only Just but the entirety of the kiwi midfield. Joe Bell covered the most ground of anybody in the game and Just, Singh, Stamenic all weren’t far behind. Neither was Chris Wood for that matter. McCowatt was on track to be alongside them except he was subbed earlier.
We don’t have express pace in our squad. Funnily enough, the fastest recorded speed by a player so far this World Cup was actually Jordy Bos for Australia (36.7 km/h) while Mo Toure is fourth (35.8 km/h). Man City duo Erling Haaland and Abdukodir Khusanov sit in between them... while NZ’s fastest player, Ben Old (32.4 km/h), doesn’t even crack the top 100. In fact, our fastest player is the slowest fastest player of all the teams - 45 other teams have a player who has recorded a faster fastest pace than our fastest recorded pace (if that makes sense). We’re not dynamic like that but we brought the intensity against Iran which is what made it such a spectacle of a game. Can’t single anyone out when it was such a team effort but since Eli Just scored twice we might as well compare his physical workload and the defensive efforts he put into his game to another fella on that list. Two very distinct ways to get the job done here...
Messi covered barely half the distance that Just did (he was subbed with about five mins left so we’ll cut him a liiiiittle bit of slack) and nearly two-thirds of it was spent at walking or light-jog pace. But Messi is Messi so he wanders around doing nothing until the ball comes near and he’s suddenly activated, like flicking a switch, and he’ll do something astonishing.
Just stayed involved as often as possible. New Zealand didn’t really apply a direct press but they kept their guys rushing up to close passing lanes and Just was big into all of that. Same as he was constantly showing an option to the ball carrier, same as he was constantly pushing on when his team tried to advance the ball (especially on the break), same as he made continuous high-speed and full-speed runs throughout the game. Start to finish. Crazy fitness from the bro.
It was even crazier to see Sarpreet Singh doing the same stuff given how short on match fitness he is at the moment. Just is battle-hardened from a long season in Scotland whereas Singh has barely played 200 minutes of competitive football in 2026... but apparently he spent that whole time on the treadmill doing cardio. Also after watching Marko Stamenić be used in a variety of different ways for a variety of different clubs during his career, gotta say I think the best version of him is what we see for the All Whites where he’s got full midfield freedom, with a defensive option like Joe Bell beside him, and really gets to roam from box to box. Swansea City tended to use him more in that Joe Bell role last season so hopefully in his second season they’ll give him more licence/responsibility.
Tim Payne is reportedly going to sign with Club Olimpia in Paraguay after the World Cup. This would be the logically illogical conclusion of his social media superstardom. It also shapes to be a handy money maker for the Wellington Phoenix seeing as he’s still got two years on his contract and would therefore require a decent transfer fee. There were a bunch of dudes in this World Cup squad angling towards transfers after their recent club seasons, hoping to use the World Cup to boost their stocks. Elijah Just, Callum McCowatt, Matt Garbett, Sarpreet Singh, Finn Surman... didn’t expect Tim Payne to be the first deal done but here we are.
Might as well, right? Payne is 32 years old and he spent time overseas as a youngster – with Blackburn Rovers and Portland Timbers – but never kicked on beyond the academy teams at either. He’d probably have been happy playing out his career at the Welly Nix but then all this madness happened and suddenly opportunities have arisen that he never could have dreamed of beforehand. Initially it was the Argentine clubs supposedly interested in him. Then Uruguay and Paraguay were mentioned as other possible destinations. At no time did any of it feel real but, again, here we are. The news has been reported by Sky Sports UK, Associated Press, and by that Fabrizio Romano bloke (although he’ll report anything if you pay him enough).
To give you even more of an idea of how weird this all is, one of the Argentinian clubs that tried to sign him was Deportivo Riestra. The club even admitted they were interested and it would have fitted their modus operandi because two years ago they club got in trouble when they registered a Twitch streamer and picked him to start a top division game (then subbed him off inside the first minute) all as a publicity stunt. Fortunately, some of the other clubs that turned their heads towards the Payne Phenomena seem to be taking him more seriously as a footballer. T-Payne wouldn’t have upended his career for a gimmick so we can trust Olimpia have some sort of vision for him beyond the social media buzz.
Olimpia are the most successful club in Paraguay. They’ve won 48 Paraguayan league titles in their 123 year history, including the 2026 Apertura phase (this is another of those leagues where the season is split in half with Apertura and Clausura phases). They’ve won three Copa Libertadores titles, most recently in 2002. This year they’ve already topped a Copa Sudamericano (the second tier continental cup) group that included Vasco da Gama (Brazil, Audax Italiano (Chile), and Barracas Central (Argentina).
This is big time footy. Similar to when Marco Rojas joined Colo-Colo. Rojas had a couple of special moments with Colo-Colo though his is also a cautionary tale because even as someone with Chilean heritage he had struggles settling into the culture on and off the pitch. Meanwhile Payne can’t even speak Spanish (although his wife is half-Costa Rican so she does).
Random fact: Club Olimpia have had very few players through the years who weren’t from the Americas but they did sign the Togo legend Emmanuel Adebayor back in 2020. He only played three games for them though. Got red carded in his third appearance for karate kicking a fella in the face and then never went back once covid hit.
Plenty more All Whites x World Cup stuff for the paid whanau, not to mention a wee round-up of some kiwi footballing transfer details
Blackcaps vs England In Test Cricket…
Ben Stokes as ENG Captain: 2 wins, 0 draws, 7 defeats (2022-2026)
Joe Root as ENG Captain: 3 wins, 3 draws, 0 defeats (2018-2026)
Alastair Cook as ENG Captain: 1 win, 3 draws, 3 defeats (2013-15)
Kinda baffling that the last three permanent England captains have had such vastly different fates against New Zealand. Cook led England out here for a three-Test series in 2012-13 where every game ended in a draw. Later in 2013 his England side won 2-0 at home vs NZ, and two years later we returned again for a 1-1 draw across two matches. Only one win from seven matches against Cook’s England but we did okay in the series context, drawing two of the three.
Then Joe Root takes over and the Blackcaps figure it out, never losing in six matches against Root’s England. There was a home series in 2017-18 with a win and a draw. Two years later they came back for the same outcome. Then we went to England in 2021 (ahead of the WTC final) and what do ya know it was the same again. One win and one draw. Three series against Root’s England and three series victories.
But when Ben Stokes got the gig, fates changed and England swept Aotearoa 3-0 in 2022 in the first full series of so-called Bazball. When they came down under in 2022-23, New Zealand lost once and drew once. We did get a win when they returned in late 2024 but only after we’d already lost the first two games and the series. Three series against Ben Stokes and three defeats.
Stokes then led England to a win at Lord’s in the first game of the current series... before playing silly buggers with the team curfew that England Cricket felt they needed to implement after their dudes couldn’t behave themselves like adults during the previous Ashes series (including some shenanigans in New Zealand beforehand involving Harry Brook and a pub bouncer) and now he’s been suspended so England have gone back to Joe Root as captain and based on previous records the benefits of that might outweigh the sadness of Kane Williamson retiring mid-series.
Musical Jam...
