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Blackcaps & White Ferns status, Jitka Klimkova leaves Football Ferns, Warriors NRLW signings, David Nyika & kiwi boxing,
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Updating The 2024 Aotearoa Kiwis Mixer (Rugby League)
NRLWahine Spotlight: Tatiana Finau & Sarina Masaga Debuts (Rugby League)
Kiwi-NRL Spotlight: Leo Thompson vs Griffin Neame (Rugby League)
Auckland United Are The 2024 Kate Sheppard Cup Champions (Football)
Wellington Olympic Are The 2024 Chatham Cup Champions (Football)
Flying Kiwis – September 10 (Football)
Reviewing Aotearoa's Efforts at the 2024 U20 Women’s World Cup (Football)
The All Whites in North America: Setting the Benchmark (Football)
Early Guide To The 2024/25 Women's Domestic Cricket Summer (Cricket)
White Ferns 2024 T20 World Cup Preview (Cricket)
Scotty’s Word
Big bummer about the Blackcaps vs Afghanistan Test. I've got a sense of urgency with Blackcaps Test cricket where every Test matters. Every Test in Aotearoa is a big event because of some healthy scarcity. Losing a Test hits hard when we were all giddy about the amount of Test cricket on the radar to finish this year. Blackcaps are also in need of Test cricket confidence as a group, while individuals are desperate for runs and wickets.
We can't control any of the Greater Noida niggle though, so no need to bemoan what could have been. I have felt gratitude for our cricketing venues in Aotearoa where we have stadiums that create their own flavour of cricket (Eden Park) and boutique arenas perfectly designed for cricket (Hagley Oval, Basin Reserve). They all play their part in Aotearoa being a wonderful cricketing nation.
Drainage is pretty good across the country and pitches are fantastic. Good batters score runs, there are no issues with bounce or lack of bounce across five days, and there is more seam vs spin balance these days. Touring teams have still deployed spinners in NZ when Blackcaps haven’t. Spin was dominant at the Basin Reserve last summer and northern venues such as Bay Oval/Seddon Park always dabble in spin.
Good cricket decks give everyone a bit of help. Cricket pitches in NZ do that while also offering variety throughout the country.
With no cricket played, all my preview ideas still apply leading into the Sri Lanka leg of this Asia tour. Having strolled into the murky White Ferns estuary to break down their T20 World Cup campaign and then cleaning myself of the ick: Blackcaps and White Ferns have hefty holes in their respective batting units right now in Tests and T20Is.
The biggest holes for Blackcaps are Devon Conway and Tom Blundell averaging less than 15 in this World Test Championship. Tom Latham's holding steady but his last two 50+ scores in all Tests were a year apart (67 runs in March 2023, then 73 runs in March 2024). Daryl Mitchell has a solid average in the WTC but it's well below his career average of 50.2.
I've included Tim Southee as the biggest bowling hole for Blackcaps right now because White Ferns also have seam bowling issues. Southee's average is far higher than usual and he has also had a massive workload, playing all six Tests - his 167.4 overs makes him the only Blackcaps to bowl over 140 overs in the WTC...
World Test Championship
Tom Latham: 268 runs @ 22.3avg/43.2sr
Devon Conway: 94 runs @ 11.7avg/35.8sr
Daryl Mitchell: 292 runs @ 32.4avg/47.1sr
Tom Blundell: 98 runs @ 9.8avg/60sr
Tim Southee: 10w @ 52.9avg/3.1rpo
White Ferns are in T20 mode and, as I've noted across the channels, their batting kinda sucks this year. Lea Tahuhu is the only White Fern averaging 30+ which comes from three not-outs in four innings, while no White Fern has a T20I batting strike-rate over 130 this year. Suzie Bates, Amelia Kerr and Sophie Devine are all below 27avg/125sr but they are well ahead of the 'engine room' of the White Ferns T20I batting line up...
White Ferns in 2024 T20Is
Georgia Plimmer: 59 runs @ 9.8avg/86.7sr
Brooke Halliday: 19.2avg/95sr
Maddy Green: 80 runs @ 10avg/77.6sr
Izzy Gaze: 108 runs @ 15.4avg/115sr
Sophie Devine: 4w @ 39.5avg/9.1rpo
Rosemary Mair: 4w @ 37.5avg/7.5rpo
Hannah Rowe: 3w @ 31.6avg/9.5rpo
Jess Kerr: 2w @ 95.5avg/7rpo
A few seamers sprinkled in these lists as well to highlight those holes. Below are some White Ferns in Super Smash stats. This is crazy stuff because somehow these players are meant to score swift T20I runs having not done that at the domestic level and that bucks against the regular sporting pipeline of dominating this level to earn a promotion to the next level.
White Ferns in Super Smash
Maddy Green: 25.5avg/104.1sr
Georgia Plimmer: 18.6avg/104.4sr
Brooke Halliday: 14.5avg/85.5sr
Izzy Gaze: 8.8avg/76.5sr
Hannah Rowe: 18.6avg/94sr | 32avg/6.7rpo
Molly Penfold: 36.6avg/6.9rpo
Nothing major happened in County Championship cricket for the kiwi lads and Josh Clarkson has started his Carribean Premier League with 28 runs @ 28avg/75.6sr. Not usual T20 mahi for Clarkson who has a T20 strike-rate of 145 in his career but he has a couple not-outs in his last two games to maintain a decent average.
Kiwi County Tour
Brett Randall: 13ov @ 3.3rpo
Michael Rae: 14w @ 30.2avg/3.8rpo
Logan van Beek: 44 runs @ 22avg/40sr | 8w @ 26avg/3.9rpo
Sneaky addition to the Wellington men’s contract list with Yahya Zeb moving down from Auckland. It’s easy to see how this move came about for Zeb as he worked closely with Azhar Abbas at Eden Roskill in Auckland, before Abbas moved to Wellington ahead of the 2022/23 season.
Zeb earned a contract with Auckland as a 19-year-old last year but didn’t get a game. Wellington won’t have Ben Sears playing as much domestic cricket this summer and Zeb benefits from the space opened up by Nathan Smith getting a Blackcaps contract, so Wellington pounced on the Abbas connection to bring a hostile seamer south. Keep in mind that Azhar’s son Muhammad followed him from Auckland to Wellington which, along with Azhar’s coaching, is boosting the Wellington stocks.
A NZ Development team was named this morning which is full of U19 wahine who will play T20s and one-dayers against Australia and Sri Lanka. Many are too young to be on the radar but there are a bunch of notables who have already settled into the domestic circuit:
Kate Chandler, Abigail Hotton, Kate Irwin, Rishika Jaswal, Emma McLeod, Izzy Sharp, Tash Wakelin, Eve Wolland
NZ Warriors have announced a bunch of signings for their return to NRLW and I'll whip up a signings tracker thingy over the weekend. These signings are fantastic and all four have hearty rugby league backgrounds; NZ Warriors have signed women with strong connections to the local rugby league community.
Apii Nicholls is the best fullback from Aotearoa right now. Mya Hill-Moana is in her fourth NRLW season as a 22-year-old and she went from local footy in Aotearoa to NRLW as a teenager.
Harata Butler is a grizzly middle forward who went from local footy to earning a gig with Sharks last year before joining Cowboys for this season. Capri Paekau is a young hooker who played for Eels last year and while she isn't playing NRLW this year, she probably returned to Aotearoa with the aim of sealing a spot for NZ Warriors.
If you spend too much time dreaming of Black Ferns Sevens signings, you will miss the quality of women’s rugby league players. For context…
Men don’t go from playing club footy and some NZRL National Premiership to NRL. Women are transitioning from club and NZRL rep footy to NRLW, some as teenagers and others as mature mothers. The quality and quantity of rugby league players moving up to NRLW from Aotearoa is notable, before even getting into the wave of rugby union wahine moving to NRLW.
NZ Warriors Women Signings
Apii Nicholls: Fullback | 31yrs | 26 games | Manurewa/Papakura
Mya Hill-Moana: Prop | 22yrs | 24 games | Taniwharau
Harata Butler: Prop | 31yrs | 12 games | Taniwharau
Capri Paekau: Hooker | 23yrs | 5 games | Turangawaewae
Kiwi-NRL Finals Encyclopedia
Panthers: Moses Leota (Mt Albert), James Fisher-Harris (Kohukohu), Scott Sorenson (Sydney)
Roosters: Joseph Manu (Tokoroa), Sitili Tupouniua (Marist), Zach Dockar-Clay (Bell Block), Naufahu Whyte (Bay Roskill), Siua Wong (Burnham/Manurewa)
Storm: Will Warbrick (Ngongotaha), Jahrome Hughes (Harbour City), Nelson Asofa-Solomona (Upper Hutt), Alec MacDonald (Auckland)
Sharks: Kayal Iro (Mt Albert), Ronaldo Mulitalo (Ellerslie), Briton Nikroa (Tauranga) | Braden Hamlin-Uele (Glenora), Chris Vea'ila (Waitemata)
Cowboys: Jason Taumalolo (Papakura/Otahuhu), Griffin Neame (Greymouth)
Knights: Greg Marzhew (Mangere East), Leo Thompson (Napier)
Sea Eagles: Josh Aloiai (Glenora) | Toafofoa Sipley (City Newton)
Queensland Cup
Northern: Jenson Taumoepeau (New Plymouth), Nick Lui-Toso (Glenora)
Redcliffe: John Fineanganofo (Auckland Grammar), Valynce Te Whare (East Tamaki), Tray Lolesio (Otara), Aublix Tawha (Turangawaewae)
Norths: Tukimihia Simpkins (RBHS)
NSW Cup
Raiders: Peter Hola (Marist)
Panthers: Asu Kepaoa (Sacred Heart), Austin Dias (Taniwharau), Preston Riki (Rawene)
Jets: Chris Vea'ila (Waitemata)
Jersey Flegg
Raiders: Siamani Leuluai (Mid-Northern)
Bulldogs: Cassius Tia (Marist), Callum Donaldson (West Coast), Fahmy Toilalo (Otahuhu)
Panthers: | Francis Manulelua (Papatoetoe)
Sharks: Salesi Ataata (Otahuhu), Felix Fa'atili (Hornby) | Richie Tupuaileai (Hornby)
Musical jam…
Wildcard’s Notebook
News came through this morning that Jitka Klimkova has stepped down as Football Ferns coach. Not a surprise given that she’s missed the last couple of tours – including the Olympics – after apparently losing the dressing room in an unspecified incident earlier in the year. Many folks have clamoured about her subpar record as coach. To be honest, much of that was beyond her control (the Ferns play a lot of teams that are better than them, and they tend to lose those games). She also oversaw a pretty significant squad update bringing in 18 debutants over the course of three years, something that’s been regularly overlooked when talking about this team’s repeated struggles.
But, ultimately, you just don’t win back the dressing room once it’s gone. It’s one thing to say that she’s not as bad as her harsh reputation, it’d be entirely another thing to claim that she’s been doing well enough to earn any benefit of the doubt here. We don’t know what went on behind closed doors but we do know that the simplest and more productive way of moving forward is to sever ties. It’s not going to make a difference, really, so no need to add another complication into the mix by trying to reintegrate an unpopular coach. We move on. No dramas.
Jitka Klimkova’s record as Football Ferns coach:
Overall: 39 G | 11 W | 7 D | 21 L | 51 GF | 57 GA | -6 GD
Oceania: 5 G | 5 W | 0 D | 0 L | 32 GF | 2 GA | +30 GD
Non-OFC: 34 G | 6 W | 7 D | 21 L | 19 GF | 55 GA | -36 GD
JK’s Ferns were kept scoreless in 21 of those 34 non-Oceania games. They themselves kept 13 clean sheets, with three being against OFC sides. That means from those 34 out-of-confederation games there were:
10 games in which they conceded none
9 games in which they conceded once
6 games in which they conceded twice
3 games in which they conceded three times
1 game in which they conceded four goals
4 games in which they conceded five goals
(Although, the last five-for came in February 2022 so the worst of those ones were all in the early days... since then Bowen and Stott have locked down the backline with Esson and Leat providing top-notch keeping behind them).
Should also mention that since JK went on gardening leave, the Ferns have had a 2-0 and 4-1 loss to Japan, a 1-1 draw with Zambia, and Olympic losses to Canada (2-1), Colombia (2-0) and France (2-1). Those were some rough fixtures and they battled pretty well in those games despite the outcomes. On that note, I’m not about to go through every match and check the contemporary rankings of opponents but I will check their current rankings to see how things fare.
JK vs Top-10 Ranked Nations:
6 G | 0 W | 0 D | 6 L | 1 GF | 22 GA | -21 GD | 0 CS
JK vs 11-25 Ranked Nations:
15 G | 2 W | 4 D | 9 L | 8 GF | 20 GA | -12 GD | 4 CS
JK vs 26-40 Ranked Nations:
10 G | 2 W | 2 D | 6 L | 6 GF | 13 GA | -7 GD | 4 CS
JK vs 41+ Ranked Nations:
7 G | 6 W | 1 D | 0 L | 36 GF | 2 GA | +34 GD | 5 CS
Weirdly the team was slightly better against nations ranked just above them (Ferns are at 31 atm) than teams ranked just below them, probably due to their obvious weaknesses when it comes to creating chances. Their ideal dynamic is playing from a defensive/counter-attacking set against more favoured but still offensively-limited opponents... but when teams do that to them they rarely find the answers. Maybe under the next coach.
JK did have to deal with a very inexperienced attacking group for the most part and those players are now beginning to settle into strong professional club environments. Also, the rankings can be misleading because of how fast women’s football is developing – hence some teams have rankings that don’t really reflect their quality (sorta like how we were ranked higher than we should have been for a long time by the inverse effect).
Debutants under Jitka Klimkova:
Jacqui Hand, Ava Collins, Amelia Abbott, Ashleigh Ward, Kate Taylor, Ally Green, Indi Riley, Mackenzie Barry, Grace Neville, Grace Wisnewski, Deven Jackson, Tayla O’Brien, Mickey Foster, Milly Clegg, Katie Kitching, Ruby Nathan, Brianna Edwards, Macey Fraser
Those debutants made up nearly half of the recent Olympic squad (10/22 players, including travelling reserves and also including Grace Neville as an injury replacement)... and also both goal-scorers at that tournament.
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I’ve been wasting time through these constant cricket weather delays and gotta say match graphics have really come a long way in the past forty or so years…
David Nyika fights this weekend, the 9-0 cruiserweight taking on Tommy Karpency in Auckland on Saturday night. He was supposed to fight Australian Blake Caparello but that bloke failed a drug test last month so he was replaced at short notice and the team’s done pretty well to grab Karpency under those circumstances. This guy has challenged for three world titles in his career. He didn’t win any of them and his career 31-8 record (19 wins by KO) is solid but unspectacular plus he only recently ended a three year stint without a fight. Karpency is 38 years old and fights from a southpaw stance. Still, you could easily argue this is a step up from what Caparello would’ve been.
Regardless, Nyika should win this one comfortably to continue his rise up the rankings. And in the cruiserweight division right now there’s plenty of room to do so... Oleksandr Usyk bossed this thing for several years before moving up to heavyweight and leaving a dearth in his wake. You may recall kiwi David Light fighting for the WBO cruiser title against Lawrence Okolie in March 2023. Okolie then lost that one to Chris Billam-Smith. Australian Jay Opetaia holds the IBF belt. Gilberto Ramirez has the WBA and Noel Mikaelian has the WBC. CBS is the only one of the current holders to have successfully defender their championship. There are some top quality dudes around there at the moment but nobody’s really stepped up to take control of the division... although that could happen soon with Billam-Smith and Ramirez having just announced an upcoming unification bout. With a bit of luck, Nyika could only be a couple of wins away from getting a crack at one of those belts.
Former All Black Liam Messam is fighting on the undercard which is getting some traction in the kiwi media. Far more interesting is the bout between Hemi Ahio and Faiga ‘Django’ Opelu. This is a rematch of kiwi heavyweight Ahio’s only defeat from back in 2022. Opelu has since been beaten by Joseph Parker, whose name hangs highly over this even given that he’s co-promoting his buddy Nyika. Ahio was excellent coming up but that Django loss halted all his momentum, however he’s since dropped Lucas Browne into retirement and revenge against Opelu would get him right back on track.
Alex Leapai Jr is also on the card. He’s an 18-year-old Aussie prospect who, as the story always goes, turned down an NRL career to follow in his father’s footsteps. His father being Alex Leapai Sr (obviously) who once fought Wladimir Klitschko for the world title (he got KO’d in the fifth) and more recently took on Joseph Parker in 2019, a bout that proved the last of his career.
Plus we’ve also got City Kickboxing’s Genah Fabian swapping formats for her second pro boxing effort (the first was a no contest due to a head clash, that was back in 2021). NZ heavyweight Uila Mau'u will be seeking to extend his 7-0 record as a pro and he’s probably the next most notable pugilist there.
Since we’re talking boxing, we’ve also gotta shout out Lani Daniels who defended her IBF light heavyweight world title last week with a unanimous decision victory over Nigeria’s Bolatito Oluwole, who had been undefeated coming into the contest. Jerome Pampellone has also had two world title eliminators this year in the men’s light heavyweight division, though he was beaten on the cards in both of them (vs Malik Zinad in April and Conor Wallace in August). No word on what Joseph Parker is up to next. He hasn’t fought since beating Zhilei Zhang in March but it’s expected he’ll be part of the undercard for the Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk rematch in December.
Congrats to Wellington United who claimed the Women’s Central League title for 2024 with a 1-1 draw against Waterside Karori last weekend. The Diamonds and the Wharfies have been going back and forth these past few years and both had already qualified for National League prior to this rescheduled fixture for the championship. Karori needed to win. United could win or draw. Kendall Pollock gave WKAFC the lead after 29 minutes but Hope Gilchrist, always reliable in the big games, popped up in the 68th minute with an equalising goal to give Wellington United the title.
So, Wellington United won this thing in 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021. Waterside Karori won it in 2022 and 2023. Now Wellington United have won it back in 2024. And just to paint the picture with even more detail, the two rivals finished last year’s National League with the exact same record. Points. Goal difference. Goals scored. From what I gather the WNL begins in two weeks.
Musical Jam Offering...