Yeah Nah Never Mind
Blackcaps vs England, Kane WIlliamson's runs, Wellington Phoenix thoughts, Black Sticks women, HBJ Shield, Warriors SG Ball & more
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The Breakers Were Wooden-Spooners, Now One Year Later They’re NBL Finals-Bound (Basketball)
Kiwi Steve in the NBA #6: The Absence Of Steve (Basketball)
The Brooklyn Nets Blockbuster Era Is Over, Now Sean Marks Can Get Back To What He Does Best (Basketball)
2023 T20 World Cup White Ferns Debrief (Cricket)
Milly Clegg Is An Absolute Unicorn Of A Kiwi Centre-Forward Prospect (Football)
Five Standout Prospects From The Wellington Phoenix Academy's Class Of 2022 (Football)
The Six Aotearoa Warriors Juniors To Learn About (Rugby League)
How The Aotearoa Warriors Spine May Operate In 2023 (Rugby League)
How The Aotearoa Warriors Forward Pack May Operate In 2023 (Rugby League)
What To Expect From Aotearoa Warriors Coach Andrew Webster (Rugby League)
Scotty’s Word
As the Blackcaps continue their quest to not be rolled by England in the second Test, I've got two notes to ponder. First is that the Basin Reserve is awesome. The history and mana of the Basin Reserve has been established since 1930, much of which permeates from the arena and through the screen when watching from afar. The musical choices are also exceptional with kiwi jams amplifying the vibe, perhaps the best music for a Test venue in Aotearoa.
The other note is spin - no surprises given recent newsletters. Blackcaps rarely play a specialist spinner in Aotearoa and when they are winning there can't be any complaints. Blackcaps aren't winning these days and don't want a specialist spinner in kiwi conditions.
Jack Leach bowled 107.3 overs in this Test series and no other bowler from either team has bowled more than 70 complete overs. This goes beyond touring teams playing a specialist spinner at Bay Oval while Blackcaps opt for the all-rounder; Leach is churning out plenty of mahi in both Tests.
Leach has played four Tests in India and is playing his fourth Test in Aotearoa. Leach has bowled 161 overs in India and 205.3 in Aotearoa. Don't worry about how effective Leach is, this is about two different strategies and the value of a specialist spinner.
While Ollie Pope is a wizard in close, Leach has the tools to bring Pope into play. As a specialist spinner, Leach can consistently execute his plans and his job is to bring control through flight and accuracy. Blackcaps continue to deploy Michael Bracewell and after seeing 15 overs from Joe Root across this series, Bracewell is more or a Root-ish spinner.
I don't think Bracewell is a better spinner than Root. Both are all-rounders who play different roles to Leach. Blackcaps have relied less on spin thanks to the quality of their seamers and Leach is a busy bloke in an England bowling unit featuring James Anderson, Stuart Broad and Ollie Robinson. England have the better seam attack, plus their specialist spinner is bowling the most overs.
Brendon McCullum is a funky factor here, considering his role in the make up of Blackcaps Test bowling during his captaincy. Jeetan Patel was yanked in and out of the Test team (sometimes with B-Mac as skipper), now he is England's spin coach who is helping Leach and Root. Anton Devcich is in the England coaching mixer as well, giving England plenty of know-how about kiwi conditions and as a collective, England have opted to lean heavily on Leach.
Speaking of spin, however you're feeling about Blackcaps Test fortunes, at least Australia are being dominated in India right? There is so much weird stuff in the Aussie Test tour right now (preparation, Ashton Agar, batting plans) and no matter how bad Blackcaps stuff may be, a losing Aussie team helps balance things out.
Auckland has three concrete stadiums when one would suffice to service all sports. Auckland also has a funky issue with Colin Maiden Park as Ford Trophy and HBJ Shield games were washed out with a bit of rain in November, then again over the weekend. Considering the weather situation we've had in Aotearoa this year, if Colin Maiden couldn't handle the rains of November there was no chance for cricket to be played there now.
Because of a bit of rain in Auckland, the Auckland vs Northern HBJ Shield games were scratched this weekend. Auckland has lost half of their HBJ Shield games thanks to this and instead of HBJ Shield cricket, these teams played a 40-over giggle at Cornwall Park (listed as Provincial A game). Auckland has Eden Park outer oval, Colin Maiden Park and Cornwall Park but can't host a proper game when it rains a bit.
The other games were split between all four teams. Central defeated Wellington on Saturday, then it flipped for Sunday. Canterbury defeated Otago on Saturday, then it flipped for Sunday. An HBJ Shield final is locked in for Saturday and it looks like Wellington will face Canterbury in a repeat of the Super Smash final.
I'll whip up a preview deep dive for that final during the week and here are some notes for the other teams...
Kate Ebrahim has 588 runs @ 98avg for Otago, taking her to four consecutive summers averaging 60+ in HBJ Shield and six averaging over 40.
20-year-old Auckland seamer Amie Hucker took 7w @ 24.85avg/5.27rpo, tied with Holly Huddleston for Auckland wickets. Hucker and Huddleston also shared 9w in Super Smash as Auckland's best bowlers with Hucker finishing on 24.11avg/7rpo.
20-year-old Nensi Patel took 11w @ 17avg/4rpo for Northern. Patel was Northern's best bowler in Super Smash with 9w @ 14avg/6rpo. Patel averages 24.29 in List-A cricket and 16.62 in T20.
21-year-old Otago batter Olivia Gain is emerging as a funky batter. Gain scored 128 runs @ 14.22avg/123sr in Super Smash and finishes HBJ Shield with 201 runs @ 40.2avg/95.7sr.
Black Sticks Women had 4-1 win over USA and a 2-5 loss to China in the FIH Pro League, wrapping up a funky week of hockey in Wellington. Aotearoa is currently 6th on the Pro League ladder (China is 4th, USA is 7th). China had a 4-1 win over USA, then USA had a 2-0 win over China in this cluster of games as well.
The win over USA saw the kiwis pounce on opportunities but they weren't in control and USA had a disallowed goal that would have brought them back to 1-1. USA dropped their energy after that and the kiwis put in a few goals to provide optimism, until they were out-played by China.
After last weekend's action, Black Sticks had ticked all three bad hockey boxes. This was still evident in improved performances, especially against USA, as the kiwis love to pass backwards and thus inviting pressure deep their own territory. Silly fouls, a lack of attacking intent and a passive approach to defence plagued Black Sticks this weekend.
Pro League hockey returns in April with both Black Sticks teams playing in Christchurch, in series against Australia and Great Britain. Australia are a dominant force of men's hockey and Great Britain currently sit 1st on the Pro League ladder so this will be a tough pocket for the blokes. Australia are always a tricky challenge for the ladies and Great Britain are 9th (last) after four games, so this is provide an intriguing gauge for Black Sticks Women.
Stay tuned...
NZ Warriors had a 34-24 win over Dragons in SG Ball. Warriors are now 5th with a 3-0 record, but their wins have come against the worst teams in SG Ball with Rabbitohs, Storm and Dragons yet to record a win. NSW Cup returns next weekend as well and I'm curious about the make up of this team, especially the lads who play reserve grade from outside the top-30 NRL squad. I'll whip up a big Warriors yarn mid-week when the teams are named.
Also in SG Ball...
Te Hurinui Twidle (Turangawaewae) scored a hat-trick for Eels. Jayden Harris (Hikurangi) scored four tries for Newcastle and he is from Kohukohu - same place as James Fisher-Harris, maybe a relation. Felix Fa'atili (Hornby) scored his 4th try in as many games for Sharks and Tre Fotu (Marist) also scored against Storm. K-Ci Newton-Whare (Riccarton) scored a try for Storm. Benaiah Ioelu (Howick/Mt Albert) scored for Roosters and Siamani Leuluai (Northern Swords) scored for Raiders.
Here are some stats to help frame the Dylan Brown vs Kalyn Ponga idea. Ponga's stats mainly come from fullback, but both will start the season in the halves...
Dylan Brown (22yrs - 82 games)
Average Run Metres: 108m
Tackles Per Miss: 14.86
Average Kicking Metres: 87.7m
Tries/Try Assists: 23/29
Kayln Ponga (24yrs - 97 games)
Average Run Metres: 146m
Tackles Per Miss: 2.14
Average Kicking Metres: 53.26m
Tries/Try Assists: 39/54
Yarned about these Brown vs Ponga stats in today’s Kiwi-NRL Spotlight video for the Patreon whanau. Also yarned about Shaun Johnson and the Warriors NSW Cup team, along with an SG Ball round up.
Two musical jams that I love. Deadforest’s ‘Plastic’ cuts through hip hop that all sounds the same (even most kiwi hip hop is copy/paste) and Fable's ‘Good Thoughts’ always gives me goosebumps...
Wildcard’s Notebook
Kane Williamson is now the Blackcaps all time leading run scorer, surpassing Luteru Ross Taylor’s record. Appropriate areas. It was beautiful that Taylor was just far enough ahead to retire with the record to his name now it’s only right that Williamson has surpassed him. In a way it feels like he’s caught him up sooner than anticipated yet then you consider a few dud scores from Williamson lately and realise he should have gotten there already.
Most Test Runs for Blackcaps
Kane Williamson – 7787 runs | 53.33 average | 26 hundreds
Ross Taylor – 7683 runs | 44.66 average | 19 hundreds
Stephen Fleming – 7172 runs | 40.06 average | 9 hundreds
Brendon McCullum – 6453 runs | 38.64 average | 12 hundreds
Martin Crowe – 5444 runs | 45.36 average | 17 hundreds
By the way, Tom Latham ticked over 5000 runs in this current match too. He’s seventh with John Wright in sixth. Won’t be long before he nudges past Crowe – in total runs and also in terms of hundies (Latham has 13 of the big ones).
Funny thing about Kane Williamson is that he was on course for his worst ever series with the bat With 10 runs from his first three innings on this English tour, he was averaging 3.33. The first time in his entire career that he’d had three single-digit dismissals in a row and his lowest ever series average as it stood. Then he scored a brilliant and battling 132 and yeah nah never mind.
If you’re curious, KW’s worst series average was a one-off match against Zimbabwe in 2012 in which he scored 4. He also only scored 14 runs in two innings in England in 2021 (only playing the first Test before being rested for the Test Champo final... in which he scored a match-winning unbeaten fifty). Seems kinda stink to count series in which he only played one match though. His worst average in a multiple match effort was in Sri Lanka in 2019 where he scored 24 runs at 8.00. Williamson’s average against England is his lowest against any nation (36.85), in no small part due to James Anderson’s presence, but he has still scored four hundreds against them. Also with this ton he’s extended his streak of having scored a Test hundred in every calendar year since 2012... that’s twelve years in a row.
Five Thoughts From The Wellington Phoenix Women’s Game...
1) That felt like a game we’ve been through way too often this season, where the WahiNix are really competitive against a better team but concede just before half-time and then can’t find an equaliser and lose 1-0. This time they held on until just after half-time which in a way was almost worse. Against the Victory in game three they lost 1-0 conceding in the fifth minute of first half stoppage time. Two games later a 22nd minute own goal cost them in a 1-0 loss to Adelaide. There was the 78th minute winner for Western United in a 1-0 loss in early January. Before the international break they lost 1-0 to Western Sydney who scored on 40’. Now it was Sydney FC who did it via a 47th minute winner. Five 1-0 defeats... they’re not getting thrashed any more as was happening last term but turning good performances into points is still proving tough mahi. Newcastle Jets got thumped 6-0 by Western Utd this week though so the Nix can still avoid the wooden spoon by winning their games in hand. Mathematically speaking.
2) But let’s be fair, Sydney FC are one of the top teams in the competition. This game was a step up from recent weeks and you could see that in how well SFC defended, able to swarm Phoenix players in the area to shut down half-chances. They also somehow avoided conceding a single corner kick which as we know is the Nix’s overwhelming best goal threat. Against a lesser team this might have even been a victory. Still got a lot of the same worries in creating and converting chances but this was a good test for the SheNix and they went okay. Keep in mind they got torched 3-0 and 5-0 by Sydney FC last season. Cortney Vine and Princess Ibini and company were unplayable back then but the back four did fantastic work on the both of them in this match.
3) There’s always someone injured though, isn’t there? Feels like the same thing with the Football Ferns. Some players are irreplaceable and without them expectations have to shift. Betsy Hassett is one of those for the Phoenix – moving her to the ten role was the main impetus in that attacking burst against Canberra (5-0) and Brisbane (3-3) and with Chloe Knott struggling for precision with her touches and Milly Clegg getting a bit of defensive focus for the first time (yeah those scouts have been paying attention) this game was begging for some Betsy Hassett class. Unfortunately she broke her nose on Footy Ferns duty. Could have made the difference.
4) I didn’t hate the Kate Taylor in midfield experiment. Saw a hint of it with the Fernies the other day then all of a sudden she was starting in the middle for the Phoenix. Didn’t see it coming but there ya go. Taylor effectively jumped in to do an Izzy Gomez impersonation with the Aussie scrapper out injured. Win the ball, shift it around. Get stuck in. KT spends half her time in midfield anyway rushing out to close down attackers and stepping forward in possession. Her passing accuracy isn’t nearly consistent enough for this to be anything other than a temporary fix, however it should do wonders for her development putting her in situations where there’s no time on the ball. Also with a holding mid like this, the Nix were able to let Grace Wisnewski play with more freedom almost alongside Chloe Knott. A different shape to the midfield (in the first half, at least... it changed when they went behind – whether deliberately or by accident I’m not sure).
5) You may have missed this but backup keeper Georgia Candy was injured and missed this game. Lily Alfeld still hasn’t featured all season. That meant that an injury reserve keeper was required... and Corina Brown got that nod. 29 year old Aucklander who was part of the 2014 U20 World Cup squad along with Alfeld and Emma Rolston. Don’t think she ever did FFDP so suffice to say this one came massively out of the blue. In other news, beautiful to have Alyssa Whinham back and there were some silky touches from her in that fifteen minute cameo. Kinda prefer Paige Satchell in that shorter bench role where she can change the pace of a game running against tired defenders. However figuring out what to do with Emma Rolston is proving frisky – mostly because she has yet to play more than two consecutive games. Would like to see what she can do in place of Ava Pritchard up front.
Five Thoughts From The Wellington Phoenix Blokes Game...
1) So concludes a brutal stretch of four straight away games for the lads. A ruthless month, especially considering their last home game (2-2 vs Perth) was in Palmerston North. No games in Wellywood since 22 January which, funnily enough, was the last time they played Central Coast. Wasn’t great for the results but they did bag a win and a draw from the two most recent matches which salvages things, particularly with three outta the next four at home. Time to cash in there. The Nix are fifth but only three points off second. They were pretty crap against Central Coast for large stretches, probably carrying fatigue both physical and emotional. But they kept on trucking and, thanks in part to an unlucky Brian Kaltack red card (his third of the season but at least one of those was a scandalous decision), they eventually did snatch a useful point for the collection.
2) Oskar Zawada is now up to ten goals for the campaign. Only two-thirds of the way through it too. Tomer Hemed scored 11 in his season. Gary Hooper only scored 12 goals in total across his two injury-plagued terms. Last season nobody even went past 6 goals (Waine/Sandoval/Sotirio). Roy Krishna has the club record of 18 in a season (only counting ALM here) and that’s not even out of the question for the Polish forward. Yet he’s still along way off the Golden Boot leader Jamie MacLaren who already has 18 goals, while Jason Cummings is second with 12. But fair play to Zawada who didn’t hit the net in any of his first five appearances but has scored in 10/13 since... never got two in a game though. There’s the next task.
3) Wasn’t impressed by the Nix defensively in this one. Scott Wootton looked really rusty in his first start back from injury and Josh Laws made too many errors. Luckily Oli Sail had a blinder which kept the Phoenix in the game long enough to be able to scrape up that late leveller. Enjoyed seeing Sam Sutton make his first start since before the World Cup though – felt like Lucas Mauragis had been slipping in recent weeks and I was a tad surprised Talay didn’t revert back to Sammy Sutts sooner than he did. With Callan Elliot back from suspension next week we could see an Elliot/Wootton/Payne/Sutton back four for just the second time all term – the other was the 2-2 draw away vs Melbourne City (Kosta’s late equaliser on that night).
4) James McGarry used to score quite a few for the WeeNix back in the day before he was converted to a fullback mostly during his time with Willem II in Holland. But he’s only ever scored two senior professional goals... and both were against the Wellington Phoenix this season and what’s more he did it for two different teams. One for Newcastle and one for Central Coast. That’s such a weird coincidence. Also Storm Roux set up the goal on Friday night. One kiwi fullback to another kiwi fullback against a team with two kiwi fullbacks... bet your arse that Darren Bazeley was paying close attention.
5) Wasn’t it nice to see the other team getting the red cards for once?