Small Ball
Kiwi Ferns vs Aussie, Blackcaps/Cricket World Cup, Wellington Phoenix + Kiwis in the A-League Women, Men's National League Team of the Week, & more
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All Whites vs DR Congo: Steady Growth, Steady Growth (Football)
White Ferns vs South Africa ODI Series Debrief/T20I Series Preview (Cricket)
2023 ODI World Cup: Blackcaps Grinding (Cricket)
Flying Kiwis - October 12 (Football)
All Whites vs Congo DR/Australia: Squad Yarns & Preview (Football)
2023 Aotearoa Kiwis Squad Breakdown (Rugby League)
2023 Aotearoa Kiwi Ferns Squad Breakdown (Rugby League)
Kiwi-NRL Spotlight: Aotearoa A vs Tonga A Breakdown (Rugby League)
Scotty’s Word
The All Blacks vs Ireland game was fun. My favourite All Blacks thing is Richie Mou’nga and his running game. Most first-fives are more like Johnny Sexton and that's all good. Mo'unga is fast and has the best footwork of All Blacks not named Mark Telea. This offers a point of difference as Mo'unga is always challenging inside defenders and his running threat sets up everything else in the backline.
Every quarter-final team has multiple kicking options, funky attacking shape and above average scrums, lineouts, mauls is mandatory. Not every team has a running first-five and Mo'unga is the best running first-five at the World Cup.
The Blackcaps win over Bangladesh was covered here a few days ago. Since then Afghanistan defeated England and Blackcaps now face Afghanistan on Wednesday night. One thing I've been pondering is Matt Henry's low key mahi, don't overlook how important Henry is for Blackcaps...
Years Henry in which has bowled 100+ ODI overs...
2016: 22w @ 27.7avg/6rpo
2019: 24w @ 30.6avg/5rpo
2023: 22w @ 27.1avg/5rpo
Henry in World Cups: 24w @ 26avg/4.9rpo
2019 WC: 13th - 14w @ 28avg/4.8rpo
2023 WC: 3rd - 8w @ 18.2avg/5.1rpo
Henry in India: 11w @ 23avg/5.2rpo
Henry has also settled into the Blackcaps Test team after averaging 40+ in four of his first five years of Test bowling. Now Henry is in his third consecutive year averaging under 30 in Tests. His career average of 37.3 drops to 28.1 for 2021-23.
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Tough loss for Kiwi Ferns against Australia, going down 10-16 in Townsville. Kiwi Ferns were down 4-16 at half-time with Annessa Biddle scoring on debut. It felt as though Australia was going to cruise through the second half as Aotearoa appeared nervous, disjointed and out-classed. Australia didn't score a point in the second half however and Mele Hufanga scored an epic try as Kiwi Ferns showcased their mana in making this a contest.
Hufanga made the Women's World Cup Team of the Tournament in her first dose of Kiwi Ferns last year. Then she finished first for linebreaks and second for tackle breaks as well as tries in her first season of NRLW. Hufanga had 17 tackle breaks against Australia on Saturday, while Leianne Tufuga and Amelia Pasikala were next best with four tackle breaks each. Hufanga is one of the most exciting wahine athletes in Aotearoa right now.
Kiwi Ferns endured plenty of niggle with injuries (HIAs included) and Biddle may be suspended after her sin-bin late in the game. They scrambled their way into a set-for-set battle with Australia and this offers a lovely foundation to build upon. Apii Nicholls, Shanice Parker, Raecene McGregor and Georgia Hale are classy operators. Hufanga is the hardest player to tackle in women's rugby league, while Laishon Albert-Jones and Otesa Pule continue to grow into a top-notch edge forwards.
Kiwi Ferns squads usually feature lots of debutants which makes hit hard to win. The gritty nature of this loss will boost the mana of Kiwi Ferns debutants though, specifically the young forwards. Albert-Jones only played 27mins and Jasmine Fogavini had to cover her edge forward slot, while Najvada George rolled through 47mins and Pasikala showcased her powerful running that has seen her quickly shine in league after leaving Hawke's Bay rugby union.
Tyla Nathan-Wong also made her debut, meaning the whole bench was on debut and all four bench players got 30+ minutes. Nathan-Wong is different gravy though having represented Aotearoa in five different sports. Her mana was sprinkled all over this Kiwi Ferns performance as she covered different roles; tough enough to tackle middles and a capable kicker.
White Ferns wrapped up their T20I series vs South Africa with a win and a loss over the weekend. Three games were washed away so the series ends as a draw, with South Africa winning the overall tour 3-2. There are a bunch of positive wrinkles such as Amelia Kerr's continued excellence and elevation to the best batter in the team, plus Molly Penfold finally took some wickets to finish as the best White Ferns bowler in the T20Is.
Overall, nothing has change from the previous regime and this tour amplifies the status-quo. Penfold's solid mahi is balanced out by White Ferns winning the toss in both games, opting to bowl first and then letting South Africa put up 155/5 and 172/4. Win the toss, bowl first and take 9/20 possible wickets.
Sophie Devine, Fran Jonas and Eden Carson didn't take a wicket in the T20Is while all conceding 7rpo or higher . Once again A-Kerr bowled the most overs and she snared 1w @ 7.2rpo. After the ODI series I offered an alternative opinion about 'spin guru' Craig Howard - who is now overseeing a decline in White Ferns spinners. A-Kerr, Carson and Jonas took1w in 17 overs against South Africa.
Devine hasn't taken a wicket in 11ov of T20I bowling this year - the first year she has bowled and not taken a wicket since her debut in 2006. Meanwhile with the bat, Devine is averaging 20.14 this year. Third year in a row averaging under 30 after four consecutive years over 30avg including two years in a row averaging 50+.
Kate Anderson scored 55 runs @ 100sr in her three innings which is decent. Brooke Halliday on the other hand scored 8 runs @ 66sr in her two innings. Izzy Gaze is still being yanked around as wicket-keeper and there is no clarity as to who White Ferns want to be their consistent wicket-keeper; Gaze, Bernadine Bezuidenhout, Jess McFadyen and Maddy Green have all been deployed as wicket-keepers over the last year.
White Ferns are 5-4 in T20Is this year and 2-4 in ODIs. A-Kerr is the best player in the team, a genuine star and she seems like the only player who is getting better - even that is delivered with a decline in her bowling. It’s crazy, kinda impressive, how the people (coaches, selectors, players) can change yet the same results are delivered.
Musical jam...
Wildcard’s Notebook
The Wellington Phoenix Women are underway for the 2023-24 and they did so in the same way as they started last season: by losing at home to Melbourne City. But the they did so in very different ways. It was a 4-1 defeat last time and only a 1-0 defeat this time. Considering that they lost 4-0 to Melbourne City the only other time they’ve played them that’s a pretty useful improvement... unfortunately not quite the statement result they wanted to begin this new season with but signs were there beneath the surface of what’s brewing.
Paul Temple has dubbed their new style “Small Ball”. Lots of quick short passes, lots of close options. That allows them to condense around the ball in overloads to win possession and it also gives them a way to build out of those situations creating space as they link together. We saw some decent examples of that against City albeit not as many as we’d have preferred on account of the quality of the opposition. No reason to think that City won’t be shooting for the premier’s plate this season. Rebekah Stott is back and they always win stuff when Stotty is there. She’s even been named club captain.
Annalie Longo is going to be crucial to that small ball approach, which suits her style of play down to the ground. Alas, she was injured for game one. It was also an underwhelming start for all four imports. Mariana Speckmaier only played the second half as she had some injuries in preseason which has her behind the rest of the team. Her speed and pressing was exciting. Her crossing was very much not. Hope Breslin threw in some tidy touches but probably had less of an impact than the other starting forwards, locals Emma Main and Manaia Elliott. Hailey Davidson didn’t get forward as much as hoped and had a torrid time trying to mark Holly McNamara. And while Rylee Foster was mostly very good in goal she did parry that Rhianna Pollicina shot back into the middle of the goal for Hannah Wilkinson to score the winner.
It’s only one game so no need to panic. This club is notoriously slow starters and this start was better than usual. The emerging style of play will take time to reach its maximum and there were notable positives in there. One such example was the performance of Macey Fraser on debut, looking tidy on the ball and gaining more confidence to try and create things going forward as the game went on. Manaia Elliott getting a start aged 18 years old is pretty wild too. Huge talent but that’s a sudden rise. She’s a rugged and direct winger who looks small but won’t get pushed over by anyone and had a couple of funky runs against MCY.
They were also able to keep up the momentum after going to the bench, with Grace Wisnewski and Alyssa Whinham having a decent impact. Rebecca Lake got out there for the last few minutes as well. There were seven club debutants amongst the 15 players who took the field.
By the way, with the clarity of week-to-week footy now that the season has begun, they were able to release their excess players to the reserves. Zoe McMeeken scored an outrageously good goal in a 2-2 draw against Western Springs, while Daisy Brazendale, Kelli Brown, and Mickey Robertson also all got starts there. The only players not to get minutes from the club’s top 23 were the two backup goalies and the injured Longo and Olivia Ingham.
Work in progress for the WahiNix... but the rest of the A-League Women’s went fantastically for New Zealanders. There were several debutants there as well, plus a tidy selection of goals. Hannah Wilkinson did miss a couple of chances against the Nix but she was sharp-of-mind to hunt down that rebound for the winning goal. It took her until January to score her first last season due mostly to injury. But the year before that she was a golden boot candidate and should be this time as well. Already mentioned a smooth Rebekah Stott performance as captain of that Melbourne City team. Only her teammet Kaitlyn Torpey had more touches than the 95 that Stotty managed on opening weekend.
Grace Jale got the start up front for Perth Glory after they made her a priority recruit. She responded by scoring a brilliant goal in a 2-0 win over last year’s finalists Western United. No Liz Anton for Perth though, must have picked up a late injury because she had been named in the wider squad. Rebecca Burrows played 23 minutes off the bench for Newcastle Jets – RB is a former U20s international for NZ, she signed with Canberra Utd last year but blew out her knee before the season started. Great recovery there from the midfielder, love to see it.
No Milly Clegg for Western Sydney because it turns out she’s ineligible to play until she turns 18 in a couple of weeks, seeing as she’s now at a foreign club (even though it’s in the same league).
Which brings us to an absolutely crazy 4-4 draw between Adelaide United and Canberra United... in which four New Zealanders partook. Hannah Blake was the best player on the pitch. She was fantastic for Adelaide, looking so comfortable on the ball and getting into some wonderful positions. She won the penalty for their first goal, scored a banger of her own (that was almost identical to Grace Jale’s), and then eventually set up a 90+5th minute equaliser. If there’s a better attacking performance from a kiwi in the ALW this season then we’ve been blessed. Aotearoa has been begging for enough attacking depth that the Football Ferns can have actual competition for places in those areas. Well, we’re almost there.
Coz on the other side were Canberra substitutes Ruby Nathan and Deven Jackson both making pro debuts. Nathan went on up front and had a couple instances where she was clearly still adjusting to the pace and physicality but mostly she held her own. There was a phase in the 89th minute, with Canberra leading 4-3, where Hannah Blake curled a shot off the post from just outside the area then Canberra countered through Ruby Nathan who played a one-two to get into the area and shot just wide zoning in on the keeper from the left. Even after Blake dodged a defender to shift the ball wide and assist the goal that made it 4-4 there was still time for Nathan to a square ball that was turned home by Vesna Milivojevic only for the offside flag to spoil things. Jackson played a deeper role in midfield but had some nice touches and was able to carry the ball forward as she does so well. They’re goint to be fun to follow.
And I’ll admit to watching that whole game without realising who the fourth kiwi was. It turns out that Adelaide’s starting striker, who played 63 minutes, was born in NZ. Rosetta Taylor joined the Reds from Nottingham Forest, where she’d been after living in Spain and playing for Valencia CF. She’s only 22 years old so that Spanish stuff must have been youth team mahi. It seems she was born in Aotearoa but raised largely in Australia prior to moving to Spain as a teenager. She’d been in England for the last 3-4 years (also on the books at Coventry for a bit). Now she’s back in Oz. Taylor has been involved in an U20s identification camp for New Zealand but never made a proper squad.
All in all there were 19 New Zealanders who played in week one, with seven of those being new ALW debutants. The Nix have eight more kiwis in their first team ranks and most of them should see at least some game time during the season (third-string goalie Aimee Danieli could be a long shot though), while Milly Clegg and Liz Anton are definitely going to get amongst it for their Aussie clubs pretty soon. Doubt we’ll see the same mid-season influx as we got last time since much of that was with the World Cup in sight... but there might be a couple of additional USA college grads who pop up along the way.
Men’s National League Team of the Week #4
GK – Oscar Boyce (Petone) – They lost 1-0 but he was great. Made some killer saves, of course he did, but the thing that stands out with OB is how calm he is with the ball at his feet even if he’s got a couple of rabies-infested strikers charging at him. There are some brilliant young goalies getting big minutes this season and 19yo Boyce is right up there.
RB – Hideto Takahashi (Auckland United) – AUFC are so reliably efficient at the back. They scored after three minutes against Petone then held that lead the entire rest of the way through calm and composed yet precise defending... giving us an excuse to talk again about how Takahashi has four caps for the Japanese national team. Credit also to Ross Haviland and Sione Fa’apoi.
CB – Tino Contratti (Manurewa) – He must be an utter pest to play against... but amongst the antagonising there’s also a spectacular defender capable of heroic challenges and some skilful stuff on the ball as well.
CB – Stephen Hoyle (Eastern Suburbs) – For someone who used to be one of the best strikers in the National League, he sure happens to be a bloody good central defender. S’pose he knows how they think after all those years doing battle. There was a moment when the coverage caught him joking with the bench about being “too slow”. Doesn’t matter if you’re slow when your timing in the challenge and your reading of the game is this sharp.
LB – Aaryan Raj (Eastern Suburbs) – Let’s highlight another Subs defender. Four CBs in the team this week, that’s just how it had to be. Raj was at the U20 World Cup earlier in the year. He might go to the Olympics next year. He’s a highly rated prospect and these Nats games are showing why: superb in the air and a smooth passer. Even scored against Welly Olympic this week. A header, naturally.
CM – Liam Schofield (Napier City Rovers) - Was a toss up between Schofield and Ta Eh Doe... went with the Englishman because he committed fewer fouls but really it was a team effort as that NCR midfield matched and denied the WeeNix for a narrow clean sheet win.
CM – Connor Probert (Manurewa) – He was an age-grade rep back in the day, he had one of the stronger USA college careers in recent times... now he’s handcuffing opposition midfielders in the NZ National League. An influential shift from CP in the upset win against Christchurch United. Who saw that result coming?
CM – Oliver Middleton (Auckland United) – Yousif Al-Kalisy has been hogging the limelight with his majestic performances for AU, and yeah not gonna lie he was in contention for this side too. But Middleton deserves some love too. Scored a sweet goal and kept finding constructive ways to influence the game.
FW – Luis Toomey (Eastern Suburbs) – Wonderful performance from the ex-Phoenix youngster, looking like the beating heart of the Suburbs attack on his way to a couple of assists amidst plenty more chances. He’s good, man. He’s really good.
FW – Monty Patterson (Manurewa) – We’re going through the lines for Rewa today. One defender, one midfielder, and now one speedy attacker with 15 international caps and a constant outlet for his team from start to finish plus he was about the only player all week to use the insane winds in a positive way as he scored himself an Olimpico.
FW – Gianni Bouzoukis (Wellington Olympic) – It really wasn’t a week for the forwards, tough to pick the last fella here (commiserations to Deri Corfe who just missed out)... but although Bouzoukis wasn’t always as involved as he’d like he did the thing that centre-forwards are expected to do: he gave them that final product with a goal and an assist. Quiet until he’s not. That’s how it’s done.