Kickin' Back
Kurt Capewell signs with Warriors, Football Ferns/All Whites 2023 round-up, Kiwi-NRL halves prospects, domestic cricket, Wellington Phoenix & more
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Aotearoa Warriors Diary: Six Sneaky Juniors To Learn About (Rugby League)
Flying Kiwis – December 6 (Football)
The Long, Confusing Timeline of Steven Adams’ Knee Injury (Basketball)
Football Ferns vs Colombia: A Familiar Tale in Game Rua (Football)
2023/25 World Test Championship: Blackcaps vs Bangladesh First Test Debrief (Cricket)
T20I Series Loss To Pakistan Is A New Low In White Ferns Woes (Cricket)
2023/24 Ford Trophy: Round Three Notebook (Finn Allen & Nathan Smith Takeover, Emerging Will Clark) (Cricket)
Scotty’s Word
NZ Warriors have got Kurt Capewell on deck for 2024 and also unleashed a flurry of extensions, but I'm really waiting for their junior squads to be announced. Capewell's move has been on the cards for a few weeks and it's a reminder that contracts mean very little in NRL. Capewell got out of his Broncos deal a year early and while some may have angst about signing a veteran like Capewell for a few years, the player and club can exit that deal at any point if they agree on matters.
The addition of Capewell has seen more noise around Marata Niukore moving to middle forward. Here is an updated NZ Warriors forward pack depth list with my best vibe of what roles these lads are likely to play this season...
Middles: Tohu Harris, Addin Fonua-Blake, Mitchell Barnett, Marata Niukore, Dylan Walker, Jazz Tevaga, Bunty Afoa, Tom Ale, Zyon Maiu'u
Edges: Kurt Capewell, Jackson Ford, Demitric Sifakula, Jacob Laban
Possible bench: Walker, Niukore, Tevaga, Afoa
Fringes: Ale, Sifakula, Maiu'u, Laban (all local juniors)
I've been pondering various Kiwi-NRL junior wrinkles such as sneaky lads (Kylem Vunipola for Broncos) and young halves. Here are five halves from Aotearoa to take note of...
Oliver Lawry: Halswell - Tigers
Cassius Tia: Marist - Roosters
Ryder Williams: Marist - Titans
Bronson Reuben: Northern (Chch) - Bulldogs
Maraki Aumua: Palmerston North Boys High School - Bulldogs
Reuben and Aumua are part of the Bulldogs system that is stockpiling all sorts of players. Bulldogs have two young halves from Aotearoa and have been signing halves from Australia as well, so I'm curious about the development of the kiwi lads next year. I've seen various photos of Lawry training with the Tigers NRL squad and Williams is training with the Titans NRL squad.
To suss out Aotearoa cricket matters, I made some teams. The first team consists of players who are not in the Blackcaps ODI squad to face Bangladesh later next week:
Kane Williamson, Devon Conway (wk), Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner, Henry Shipley, Tim Southee, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Neil Wagner.
Other lads who were unavailable: Jimmy Neesham, Ben Lister, Ajaz Patel, Trent Boult.
That's a fabulous group who are either being rested, injured or kickin' back like Boult. Keep this in mind for the Bangladesh ODIs as Aotearoa has fantastic depth in the men's pipeline. I'll cook up a Blackcaps ODI squad breakdown this weekend and one thing that's on my mind is the selection of Will O'Rourke. O'Rourke deserves his opportunity but don't overlook Henry Shipley who is almost as tall as O'Rourke and Jamieson, with just as much bowling zip as them. Aotearoa has three tall, funky, skillful seamers.
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The next team is a White Ferns 2nd 11 that I think could trouble the 1st 11 in both formats:
Rebecca Burns, Jess McFadyen (wk), Natalie Dodd, Frances Mackay, Leigh Kasperek, Jess Watkin, Nensi Patel, Rosemary Mair, Gabby Sullivan, Emma Black, Claudia Green
Sullivan and Black are the only players who haven't played for Aotearoa yet. The others are all capable of slotting into the White Ferns and adding maturity to a team that lacks identity/confidence. These players are still the best domestic cricketers who score more runs and take more wickets than players in the current squad.
The next team is a Young/Emerging group:
Georgia Atkinson, Mikaela Greig, Prue Catton, Jodie Dean, Izzy Sharp, Josie Penfold, Kate Chandler, Sarah Asmussen, Kayley Knight, Natasha Codyre, Bree Illing
Natasha Wakelin is 12th-lady and someone can plug a wicket-keeping hole. Greig is the best batter of this group who would slot into the 2nd 11 if a spot was up for grabs. Penfold is the next up seamer and Asmussen the next up spinner, while the rest of these players are talented youngsters stacking up runs/wickets.
I'm tracking Junior World Cup hockey because I am curious about the state of hockey in Aotearoa. This starts with both Black Stick teams who didn't win a Commonwealth Games medal for the first time as a indicator of their decline. The men were relegated from FIH Pro League which means they dipped out of the top-nine teams in the world, while the women were pulled out of their Pro League to focus on Olympic qualification; both teams have qualification tournaments early next year.
This decline runs deep, so I'll keep to the basics. Junior World Cups provide context for how the younger wave of kiwi hockey players are developing. The women's event is finished and NZ has one more game in the men's tournament vs Netherlands...
Women: 0-3, -10 goal difference
Men: 0-2, -8 goal difference
Musical jam...
Wildcard’s Notebook
Something we discussed at the start of the podcast yesterday was growing depth across top kiwi sports teams. The Football Ferns were the entry example... which got me thinking deeper about this. The Ferns have polished off a massive 2023 with those games in Colombia, a year which was at times frustrating, at other times deflating, and for one night in late June at Eden Park it was absolutely glorious.
The worst of it was the first of it, losing 4-0 and 5-0 to USA in a couple of out-of-window friendlies before that 5-0 defeat against Portugal – the only instance of a back three starting formation from Jitka Klimková, a plan that was swiftly abandoned. Back to back defeats against Argentina were more down to low confidence and stretched depth... but that still made it five losses in a row without scoring a goal.
Since then they’ve won two, drawn three, and lost six. Only once in 16 games did they score more than once. Only in 5/16 games did they score at all. But one of those wins, against Norway for their first ever in a World Cup, was brilliant and historic and showed what this team is capable of at their best (and arguably against an opponent that allows them to play as such).
You know the story as well as I do. Point is that it’s a work in progess. The Ferns do have this blossoming depth, with more professionals than ever before (by a long distance), but it takes time for that to filter into national team performances. It’s a step up from the domestic scene into the A-League. It’s a far greater step up into playing against the best players in the world, right? The 2023 World Cup was too soon to see the benefits of the Wellington Phoenix on the national team... but the 2027 World Cup? Now we’re talking – in fact there’ll even be a second ALW team in Auckland by then.
Back to the initial point about depth, the Football Ferns used 37 different players across 16 games in 2023. 31 of those players started at least one game. Nobody played in all 16, though Betsy Hassett came close missing just one match (and starting 14 of them). Here are the top ten for appearances this year...
Betsy Hassett – 15 (14 starts, 1 subs)
Malia Steinmetz – 14 (13 starts, 1 subs)
Katie Bowen – 13 (13 starts)
Grace Jale – 13 (9 starts, 4 subs)
Paige Satchell – 13 (2 starts, 11 subs)
Ali Riley – 12 (12 starts)
Gabi Rennie – 12 (7 starts, 5 subs)
Hannah Wilkinson – 11 (11 starts)
Indi Riley – 11 (8 starts, 3 subs)
Michaela Foster – 10 (5 starts, 5 subs)
There were also eight players from that 37 who made their debuts this year:
Grace Neville, Grace Wisnewski, Tayla O’Brien, Deven Jackson, Michaela Foster, Milly Clegg, Katie Kitching, and Ruby Nathan – with the last two getting their chances against Colombia on the most recent tour.
Additionally it was during this calendar that Ali Riley and Betsy Hassett each earned their 100th international caps, while Katie Bowen got her 100th in the most recent game. Rebekah Stott should bring up her century next year, she’s currently at 96. Paige Satchell is at 48, Liv Chance at 46, and CJ Bott is at 42.
Not sure if Chance will get there next year or not – depends how soon she gets back into it after giving birth. Katrina Gorry was a similar age when she had her kid and plays a similar position to Chance. She gave birth in August 2021 and made her return (against NZ) in April 2022. Chance is due early next year.
We’ve only got three goals to mention, but two were scored by Hannah Wilkinson, while CJ Bott, Jacqui Hand, and Betsy Hassett scored the others.
Now let’s do the All Whites, who played seven and a half games depending on how you view that Qatar game. There was nobody who played in that Qatar game that didn’t play in any of the others so let’s just ignore it (also, like, it doesn’t officially count so it’d be misleading for cap numbers too). In which case we can say that the All Whites used 33 players across seven games. Only four short of what the Ferns got up to in less than half the matches. The top ten are as such...
Liberato Cacace – 7 (7 starts)
Marko Stamenic – 7 (7 starts)
Matt Garbett – 7 (5 starts, 2 subs)
Elijah Just – 7 (4 starts, 3 subs)
Max Mata – 7 (1 start, 6 subs)
Callum McCowatt – 6 (6 starts)
Michael Boxall – 6 (5 starts, 1 sub)
Nando Pijnaker – 6 (5 starts, 1 sub)
Tim Payne – 5 (5 starts)
Joe Bell – 5 (4 starts, 1 sub)
As far as debutants go, 2023 has served up a quartet of them in the form of:
Callan Elliot, Kyle Adams, Tyler Bindon, and Finn Surman
The only milestone cap for the fellas, due to their very young team overall, was Tommy Smith reaching 50 in the first game of the year. He also managed to get sent off in that same game. Meanwhile Ali Riley’s 150th was a 5-0 defeat to Portugal while Katie Bowen’s 100th was a 1-0 loss in which her error led to the only goal (though she was otherwise one of the best players on the pitch). At least Betsy Hassett scored a penalty in her 150th. These milestones ain’t kind. Maybe Michael Boxall (46 caps) and Marco Rojas (45 caps... supposing he gets back on the bus soon) will have better luck next year.
Matt Garbett was the top scorer in 2023 with... two goals. We also had Chris Wood adding one to his record tally, while Callum McCowatt got one, there was an own goal, and though it didn’t count Marko Stamenic did score a beauty against Qatar. The All Whites won one game, drew three, and lost three from their seven matches. One of each of them was while Darren Bazeley was interim boss. They’re 0-2-2 since he got the job permanently, albeit mostly playing exclusively against higher ranked teams.
On a similar note, here are all the players used by the Blackcaps this year across the three formats (keep in mind that there’s still time to add a few more, with a few debutants named in that ODI squad to face Bangladesh )...
Test (19 players in 7 matches)
Tom Blundell (7), Devon Conway (7), Tom Latham (7), Daryl Mitchell (7), Henry Nicholls (7), Tim Southee (7), Kane Williamson (7), Michael Bracewell (5), Matt Henry (4), Ajaz Patel (3), Blair Tickner (3), Neil Wagner (3), Kyle Jamieson (2), Glenn Phillips (2), Ish Sodhi (2), Scott Kuggeleijn (1), Will Young (1), Doug Bracewell (1), Mitchell Santner (1)
ODI (28 players in 30 matches)
Tom Latham (27), Daryl Mitchell (26), Rachin Ravindra (22), Glenn Phillips (21), Devon Conway (20), Will Young (20), Lockie Ferguson (18), Matt Henry (17), Mitchell Santner (17), Trent Boult (15), Henry Nicholls (14), Mark Chapman (13), Ish Sodhi (13), Finn Allen (11), Tim Southee (10), Henry Shipley (8), Tom Blundell (7), Blair Tickner (7), Kane Williamson (7), Chad Bowes (6), Michael Bracewell (6), Cole McConchie (6), Kyle Jamieson (5), James Neesham (5), Adam Milne (4), Ben Lister (3), Jacob Duffy (1), Dean Foxcroft (1)
T20 (27 players in 18 matches)
Mark Chapman (18), Daryl Mitchell (15), Ish Sodhi (14), Rachin Ravindra (12), Chad Bowes (11), Ben Lister (10), Mitchell Santner (10), Tim Seifert (10), Adam Milne (9), James Neesham (9), Tom Latham (8), Finn Allen (7), Matt Henry (7), Glenn Phillips (7), Tim Southee (7), Devon Conway (6), Will Young (6), Lockie Ferguson (5), Kyle Jamieson (5), Henry Shipley (5), Cole McConchie (4), Blair Tickner (4), Michael Bracewell (3), Dane Cleaver (2), Jacob Duffy (2), Dean Foxcroft (1), Adi Ashok (1)
2023 All Format Players (12 players)
Devon Conway (7 Tests/20 ODIs/6 T20Is), Tom Latham (7/27/8), Daryl Mitchell (7/26/15), Tim Southee (7/10/7), Michael Bracewell (5/6/3), Matt Henry (4/17/7), Blair Tickner (3/7/4), Kyle Jamieson (2/5/5), Glenn Phillips (2/21/7), Ish Sodhi (2/13/14), Will Young (1/20/6), Mitchell Santner (1/17/10)
The Wellington Phoenix Women have made a new signing. Their fifth import: Isabel Cox, a 22 year old American (she turns 23 in less than a week) who joins after finishing at North Carolina where she spent her entire five-year college career. Same school that Katie Bowen went to, by the way, in fact Cox (who is a NC native, attending uni in her home state) reckons she met Bowen a few years back and she made quite the impression on the youngster. Cox also used to start up front alongside Alessia Russo who of course is now a superstar for England and Arsenal.
Cox played 110 games for NC, a programme record for appearances. She definitely isn’t a straight swap for Chloe Knott or Grace Wisnewski though – Cox predominantly plays in the forward line, more of a winger than a striker but she can do a job there as well. Notably she’s coming off a season in which she played almost exclusively off the bench and didn’t get a goal or an assist (15 goals and 20 assists overall). So expect to see her competing for minutes on the wing with someone else brought in to challenge for midfield minutes.
In the meantime, both Daisy Brazendale and Ella McMillan have been added to the wider squad for the weekend’s game. Brazendale is on a scholarship deal, a hard-tackling midfielder hailing from Nelson. McMillan is a Waikato girl who captains the reserves and can play CB or CM.
The funky thing about Isabel Cox is that unlike the other imports the Nix have signed from the American system, IC is making her first professional experience. I’ll admit I’m pretty sceptical about how effective the NCAA format is for elite kiwi prospects, for reasons I’ve mentioned many times (of course it still has a valuable place for everyone else beneath that and there’ll always be some valuable Footy Ferns coming out of that pathway... just not like it used to be before the ALW opened up to more NZers). Cox now gets to be a case study from the American perspective. Here’s someone who played in two NCAA national championship finals but who wasn’t quite good enough to back herself in the NWSL college draft. So how will she stack up in the A-League? We shall soon find out.