Crafty Operators
Blackcaps in another WC semi-final, Macey Fraser/Wellington Phoenix, Kiwi NRL Train & Trials, Joseph Parker's next fight, Tera Reed in the WNBL, & WNL Team of the Week
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2023/25 World Test Championship: Blackcaps Tour Of Bangladesh Preview (Cricket)
All Whites vs Greece + Ireland: Squad Yarns & Preview (Football)
Some Of Best Kiwi-NRL Junior Big Boppers To Watch Out For In 2024 (Rugby League)
Aotearoa Kiwis Defeat Australia: The Black and White Toa From Aotearoa (Rugby League)
Aotearoa Warriors Diary: Learning From Josh Curran's Departure (Rugby League)
Aotearoa Warriors Diary: Learning From The Addin Fonua-Blake Situation (Rugby League)
How Aotearoa Kiwi Ferns Defeated Australia And Continue The Resurgence Of Wahine Rugby League (Rugby League)
Scotty’s Word
Ahead of the Cricket World Cup semi-final I keep pondering how Blackcaps can defeat India. New Zealand have a strong record against India in World Cups but this angle is similar to all the stats about Trent Boult's bowling over the last three World Cups which we discussed in our Subscriber Pod last Friday. The 2015 WC was mainly in Aotearoa for the Blackcaps and then the 2019 WC was in England, conditions that suit Boult's style perfectly. For a WC in India, Boult will obviously have to bowl differently.
The encouraging history between Blackcaps and India in WC diminishes when India are playing in home conditions. This is one of, if not the trickiest WC game I've covered for Blackcaps. The realistic perspective is that Aotearoa's run of WC finals comes to an end. The best attribute for the Blackcaps in this match up is their craft, tactics, and planning.
I can't tell you those plans because they are much smarter than me. Blackcaps have lots of footage and data to draw upon, on top of their experience in doing this over multiple WC. We always chat about this because Blackcaps have proven themselves to be crafty operators.
I do know that Glenn Phillips and Mitchell Santner are top-notch fielders, better than any Indian fielder. That will help as both are deployed around the bat, spending more time in the inner circle than they do patrolling the outfield. Blackcaps can save runs in the field and Blackcaps conceded the least extras on this WC.
Blackcaps were the only team below 60 extras. India conceded 85 (South Africa conceded 173 and Australia 140). 2.5% of the runs scored against Blackcaps were extras, while India sit on 4.9% (SA on 8% and Australia on 5.9%). Bangladesh was the only other team conceding less than 3% of their runs through extras. Without getting deep into the mangroves of how those extras came about, this tells a basic story of Blackcaps cricket.
Blackcaps will need to be fantastic in these discipline/craft zones to win. That's what makes Blackcaps a good cricket team in all three formats and I'm most intrigued about how Blackcaps stifle India with bat, ball and in the field. That's if they can do it.
Three lads to ponder...
Devon Conway
World Cup: 359 runs @ 44avg/102sr, 1 x 100
ODIs vs India: 217 runs @ 43avg/92sr, 1 x 100
ODIs in India: 514 runs @ 46avg, 2 x 100
2023 ODIs: 808 runs @ 47avg/99sr, 4 x 100, 1 x 50
Tom Latham
World Cup: 155 runs @ 31avg/92sr, 2 x 50
ODIs vs India: 876 runs @ 51avg/94sr, 2 x 100, 5 x 50
ODIs in India: 630 runs @ 45avg/87sr, 1 x 100, 5 x 50
2023 ODIs: 570 runs @ 27avg/79sr, 5 x 50
All World Cups: 310 runs @ 23avg/80sr
Tim Southee
World Cup: 4w @ 39avg/6.7rpo
ODIs vs India: 35w @ 36avg/6.1rpo
ODIs in India: 29w @ 30avg/5.6rpo
2023 ODIs: 14w @ 33avg/6.8rpo
All World Cups: 38w @ 26avg/5.4rpo
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Suzie Bates followed up from the Friday dispatch with 35* @ 166sr to help Sixers win their fourth game. Sixers have climbed up the ladder thanks to three wins in a row with Bates in the middle order. Bates didn't need to bat in the first of these three wins, then she scored 27 runs @ 142 followed by the 35*. Sixers play Hurricanes tonight and Bates is likely to stay in the middle order where her experience and hitting can thrive.
Sixers need wins (4-5) to make up for their losing start, while Sophie Devine's Scorchers are top of the ladder (7-3). Devine is once again the best player on the best team and given her exceptional mahi so far this season, check in her exceptional mahi in the summer of 2021/22. Amelia Kerr scored 3 runs with 2w @ 5.5rpo in a Heat (6-3) win over Strikers and they are one spot ahead of Sixers in fourth.
Sophie Devine: 419 runs @ 52avg/152sr | 11w @ 23avg/8.2rpo
Suzie Bates: 112 runs @ 16avg/95sr
Amelia Kerr: 107 runs @ 26avg/120sr | 4w @ 31avg/8.4rpo
I'm preparing for the 2023 Kiwi-NRL Train and Trial Breakdown. The 2022 version can be found here and this year's group is extremely funky, full of young talent from Aotearoa. One bigger picture idea that I'm brewing is that Aotearoa is producing better rugby league talent than Australia. This was evident in Kiwis and Kiwi Ferns success this year, both squads featured some of the best players in the NRL as well as the best youngsters.
The T/T group has Apa Twidle, Sio Kali, Salesi Foketi, Jayden Harris, Elijah Leaumoana and Elijah Rasmussen who played U18/19 this year ... or at least started the year in those competitions. Now these lads have summer NRL contracts and sit on the fringe of NRL footy. Most of these Kiwi-NRL juniors feature consistently in my Kiwi-NRL coverage so stay up to date with that and the Big Bopper break down last week highlighted Caius Fa'atili with Broncos, but he is now with Storm.
Massive, mobile and in a good system. That's an exciting development for Caius who is a Hornby junior from Christchurch and he joins Riccarton junior K-Ci Newton-Whare as notable Kiwi-NRL youngsters with Storm.
One other nugget is Peter O'Sullivan's expertise in recruiting 1st 15 talent. This has been a staple of his mahi with Roosters, Storm, NZ Warriors and now Dolphins. Valynce Te Whare is a trendy example from this year, but Dolphins also recruited John Fineanganofo from Auckland Grammar 1st 15 and he had a fabulous year across U18/U21/Q Cup. Rasmussen is a big bopper from Westlake Boys 1st 15 who is making waves with Dolphins and now Dolphins have Tevita Naufahu on a T/T deal.
Naufahu played 1st 15 for St Kents and made the NZ Schools team this year. Based on how Te Whare, Fineanganofo and Rasmussen have thrived with Dolphins, expect O'Sullivan's latest 1st 15 recruit to shine next year as an outside back.
While not in this list, Kylem Vunipola is another youngster to note down. Vunipola is from Palmerston North and played for Linton/Mid-Central before moving to Queensland where he is signed to Broncos. Vunipola played U18s for Wynnum this year and the depths of the interwebs suggest he is training the Broncos NRL squad this summer as a fullback/outside back.
Cowboys: Sean Mullany (Glenora), Jenson Taumoepeau (Western Suburbs)
Sea Eagles: Austin Dias (Taniwharau)
Eels: Te Hurinui 'Apa' Twidle (Turangawaewae)
Panthers: Daeon Amituanai (Whiti Te Ra)
NZ Warriors: Sio Kali (Pt Chevalier), Setu Tu (Otahuhu)
Roosters: Salesi Foketi (Manurewa)
Knights: Jayden Harris (Kohukohu), Elijah Leaumoana (Manurewa)
Rabbitohs: Nazareth Taua (Marist), Nicholas Halalilo (Mangere East)
Dolphins: Tevita Naufahu (St Kents), Elijah Rasmussen (WBHS)
Titans: Vaka Sikahele (Manurewa)
Storm: Caius Fa'atili (Hornby)
Musical jam…
Wildcard’s Notebook
Macey Fraser scored another magnificent goal for the Wellington Phoenix yesterday. Wicked free kick, whipped into the top corner from the edge of the area. For all of the focus on signing imports to bolster the attack, the best creator they’ve had so far has been the academy prospect that they boosted up onto the club’s longest ever contract. Four games into the season, Fraser has been involved in 14 shot-creating actions... there are only four players in the entire competition ahead of her and three of them play for Melbourne City.
By the way, Hannah Blake and Michaela Foster are also top ten with 13 each, while Hannah Wilkinson has 12 for 12th equal. Grace Jale scored again for Perth Glory and is tied for second with three goals overall. This is the year that kiwi forwards/creative players have finally taken root in the A-League Women’s.
Macey Fraser is one of several players from outside the Football Ferns World Cup squad who are putting up emphatic cases to be part of that national team moving forwards. One of the themes of my recent All Whites piece was that the lads are finally in a position where they can drop players who aren’t performing at club level because there are enough professionals at a good enough level that there’s competition for places. The Ferns haven’t reached that stage yet but based on the start of this ALW season (and beyond) we might be closer than we think.
This is something I might even write about if I can find the time. There’s an international window at the end of the month which was supposed to have Ferns games but nothing’s been announced so I guess not. That’ll mean we don’t see them until the Olympic qualifiers in February, by which time there’ll have been another European transfer window plus months more of A-League players.
I don’t believe that wild changes need to be made to the Ferns... however their attacking group remains a work in progress and it’s imperative upon any coach to pick the players who are putting forward the strongest cases. That could mean for some tough decisions for Jitka Klimkova but she’s shown a willingness to make those calls in the past – case and point Meikayla Moore (who is in career-best form for Glasgow City right now, a perfect response to that set-back).
Meikayla Moore should be back in the Ferns the next time they play. She’s now a locked-on starter for a title contending side in Scotland, earning plenty of honours for her individual efforts.
What Grace Jale is doing for Perth reinforces something I (and others) have been calling for since before the World Cup: she should be getting more opportunities as a number nine for the national team. For the Nix she was scoring goals from left wing. Canberra used her even deeper on the wing and she was still one of the leading assist-makers. Now she’s scoring goals as a striker and it’s all threading together. This is the exact same level as Hannah Wilkinson, that’ll be a great head to head to follow throughout the term.
Kate Taylor’s gotten better each week in that number six role... I’m still not convinced that’s her position at the highest level but it’s fantastic for her development at this point in time. Honestly though if I were picking another Phoenix defensive option for a national team squad then Mackenzie Barry is the one.
Macey Fraser has got to be there. Particularly now that Grace Wisnewski as done her ACL. Fraser has that creative touch that the team is desperate for and can settle pretty easily into the three-woman midfield they’ve been using lately.
But while we’re at it with ALW forwards, Hannah Blake’s activities on the right wing for Adelaide have been equally as impressive. Not sure who gets dropped, perhaps injuries will sort that out, but surely those two can’t be denied.
It’ll be enlightening to see if Macey Fraser starts getting the deeper media treatment now because her career so far has been a curious one. A native of Canterbury, she was getting National League minutes there while still at high school (towards the end of the Pride dynasty) before being an important player at the U17 World Cup when the kiwis got that legendary third-place finish.
But it wasn’t smooth sailing from there. Fraser has alluded to having had to travel a rocky road. She had a great season with Southern United in in the WNL then spent some time with Ole Academy before joining the Phoenix Academy (along with Mickey Robertson) before they even had a women’s division. She was there for the team unveiling... but it took until year three before she was amongst the first team.
Easy to say that past coaches have overlooked her based on that situation, however that might not be fair. She was in the U20 World Cup squad last year (coached by Gemma Lewis and Natalie Lawrence) but didn’t get a single minute, same as she’d been picked in a tour squad earlier that year and not featured. Gotta assume there was an injury or something at work. There’s obviously more to the story in terms of what she’s had to overcome. But however it happened, she’s arrived now.
The Memphis Grizzlies are battling away without Steven Adams (or Ja Morant) and the battles have not been pretty. They’re 2-8 to begin the season following a win against the LA Clippers this morning. That’s the tied worst record across the entire NBA. Here’s a statistical glimpse of what that looks like (out of 30 teams)...
18th in offensive rebounding percentage (28.6%)
20th in total rebounding percentage (49.1%)
24th in plus/minus (-5.5/gm)
29th in offensive rating (106.4)
23rd in net rating (-5.1)
24th in effective field goal percentage (51.0%)
15th in second chance points (14.8/gm)
18th in points in the paint (48.2/gm)
15th in screen assists (8.8/gm)
They are still second for box outs though so that’s something. They might not be great box outs though considering the rebounding numbers. It’s pretty nuts how they can lose their starting point guard and centre and just absolutely plummet like that. Shows what a fine line there is at the highest level. At least Morant will be back as some stage. Also, some of these stats have improved since they found Bismack Biyombo to give them some Dollar Store Steven Adams impersonations.
Quick peek over at the WNBL again, because following up on Friday’s email McKenna Dale was on the matchday roster for Bendigo Spirit this week. She didn’t play and they lost but it’s confirmation that the Tall Ferns rookie is indeed part of the Kiwi WNBL crew for this new season. Esra MccGoldrick got a shade under 16 mins in their 68-62 loss to Sydney Flames with 2 points (1/2 FG), 3 rebounds, and 2 assists.
A quiet game for Esra... but Tera Reed continues to do massive things for the Melbourne Boomers. The also played the Flames this weekend except they smoked ‘em 95-80 with Reed played 31 minutes and scoring 19 points on 6/7 shooting. She shot 3/4 from deep which actually lowers her season average through three games... that’s how crazy she’s been. We’re talking 8/10 from deep territory. Reed also had 8 rebounds and 3 assists.
Three games into the term, Melbourne are 3-0 and Reed is averaging 15.7 points and 8.0 rebounds with shooting splits of 65.2%/80%/75%. She is the second all-time leading NCAA scorer amongst New Zealand players for a reason, aye? Although she won’t be for long because Charlisse Leger-Walker just began her final season of college. Rusty in the first game scoring 6 points on 2/10 shooting (but complementing that with 8 rebounds, 9 assists, and 3 steals in a victory) but then immaculate in the second with 26 points and 4 assists.
Not as flash for Penina Davidson in that Boomers game, she only managed 4 points, 2 assists, and 2 rebounds with Melbourne getting outscored by 11 points in her 18 minutes. The whole bench unit got caught on the wrong end of a few streaks but no dramas since the starters were tremendous. Reed was a +22. She’s had a magnificent start to her WNBL career.
So... did you see that Joseph Parker’s being talked up for a fight against Deontay Wilder? This is on that December 23 card in Saudi Arabia that was supposed to feature Tyson Fury vs Oleksandr Usyk in that legendary unification bout but that one’s been delayed because Fury’s keep busy fight against UFC convert Francis Ngannou ended up being way harder than expected. Fury looked rubbish and got rocked a couple times by a bloke in his first proper boxing bout. He needs recovery time and he needs training time.
Parker being Fury’s brother from another mother, he was always planning on fighting on that card. The Saudis were also always planning on holding that card whether it was Fury vs Usyk or anyone else. It now appears that we’ve got a co-headline act on the horizon with Parker vs Wilder and Anthony Joshua vs Otto Wallin.
That is... quite a step up for Parker from some of the dudes he’s been whupping in the meantime. Wilder is known as perhaps the most powerful puncher in the heavyweight division but a combination of him being American at a time when Europe and the Middle East dominate the sport and also his brutality scaring a few folks away (and leaving him too unproven to demand the very best bouts) means that it’s not been clear where exactly he sits in the heavyweight division despite being a former title holder. Of course, he did have that classic trilogy against Tyson Fury. A draw and two Fury wins. Some of the best fights of the past decade. Fury’s experience against Wilder will no doubt be one of Parker’s major assets going into that one.
Once upon a time there was no fear for Parker against power. He’s always had a mean chin... though Joe Joyce changed that impression last year and the fact that Joyce has then been pumped twice by Zhang Zhilei has not helped Parker’s case. He can beat up on the journeymen all he wants but if getting another title shot is the goal then, frankly, he’s going to need to take a few risks. That means booking a go against Deontay Wilder’s hammer fists when few others are keen.
Wilder has fought 46 times. Other than the three Fury fights he has won all 43 with 42 of them by knockout. Bermane Stiverne is the only fella other than Fury to go the distance with him. Nearly three years later those two had a rematch in which Wilder knocked him out in the first round without Stiverne connecting with a single punch. But beyond his prodigious power there is the common accusation that Wilder lacks technique and discipline. Let’s see if this one gets booked. Then let’s see how Joseph Parker approaches it. This could be one of the defining bouts of his career... one way or another.
By the way... there’s even talk of Junior Fa making his comeback in a fight against Frank Sanchez on the same fight card. Imagine that!
Women’s National League Team of the Week #8
GK – Mickey Mitchell (Western Springs) – Disappointing from Western Springs, losing control of their finals hopes with a 1-0 defeat to AUFC... tell ya what though it would’ve been a whole lot worse had their American goalie not made save after wonderful save the whole day through.
RB – Cat Pretty (Ellerslie) – In the upset of the entire season, the last-placed Ponies beat first-placed Eastern Suburbs 1-0 and while the goal came from a lovely team move... it was the way they defended with courage and with structure and with discipline and with aggression the entire way through that won it for them. Including midfielders acting like defenders. Pretty’s physical presence laid down a marker that her entire team was able to rise to.
CB – Sarah Alder (Wellington United) – It’s a shame she hasn’t been available for more of this season because Alder’s presence is such a shining one for the Diamonds. Experienced mahi at the back plus the set piece prowess. Being able to play a back three opened things up for the left back in this team too.
CB – Chelsea Elliott (Auckland United) – She simply loves playing against Western Springs. During the regular season she scored a hatty as a striker in the 5-1 win that clinched the NRFL Prem title. Here she was a dominant centre-back in a proficient clean sheet win against the highest-scoring team in the comp.
LB – Jemma Catherwood (Wellington United) – Some wing-backs are great going forward. Some wing-backs are great in their defensive roles. A few of them are great at both... like Jemma Catherwood. Blitzed her way to a couple of sweet assists as well as playing her part in an excellent showing at the back.
CM – Yume Harashima (Auckland United) – You just don’t see central defensive midfield showings better than that. In a potentially season-defining match, Harashima was damn near flawless reading the play and passing the ball and she even hit the post trying to get on the scoresheet.
CM – Kennedy Bryant (Waterside Karori) – In many ways the architect of WK’s slick victory against the WeeNix, picking out two assists and leaving her footprints all over a fine team performance.
CM – Leigh Aitken (Ellerslie) - Had to have another Ellerslie player in there. Captain Aitken ran herself into exhaustion in this game, she was here there and everywhere... as well as setting up the crucial goal.
FW – Abby Rankin (Southern United) – Another top notch effort from Rankin, scoring the goal that put Southern in front for the second time. In a Southern team stacked with choice players she’s been one of the best.
FW – Amy Hislop (Southern United) – She scored twice more and was involved in both the other goals as Southern survived a scare to emphatically defeat Central and move one step away from a grand final berth. They simply could not have done it without Hislop’s fantastic all-round number nine play. She’s an MVP candidate.
FW – Bree Johnson (Auckland United) – In a week short of undeniable attacking efforts (but overflowing with defenders) you’ve gotta lean on the forwards who owned the big moments. That’s the aim of the game. And some classic work from Johnson ensured she scored one of the most valuable goals of the entire season.