All hope abandon ye who enter Hagley?
A swift Week That Was and a Warriors Weekend that Will Be
If you haven’t caught up with the news from last night, there could be hope for Auckland’s long-suffering cricket fans.
Hope is something in short supply for Black Caps’ fans as they prepare to face world test and one-day champions Australia in the second test today.
It’s likely conditions will be markedly different than they were at Wellington, but with Australia’s superbly balanced attack it’s a case of pick your poison. Aside from the occasional half volley from Mitchell Starc as he searches for swing, you don’t get any freebies. Cam Green, very much the fifth spoke in their bowling wheel, was bowling considerably quicker than the majority of New Zealand’s attack in his rare trips to the Basin bowling crease.
There’ll undoubtedly be more threads to pull at as the match progresses, but for now it’s time to celebrate two absolute champions of the black cap who, fittingly, bring up their tons together this morning.
It’s a big test for Tim Southee who, if you were being unkind, has been performing like a Davis Cup captain in his past few outings. He knows he’s under pressure, telling what remains of the sports media this week that his lack of wickets left him “nowhere to hide”.
This Stuff piece has some nice quotes from Southee’s first international coach John Bracewell, noting that it was his son Cameron that initially identified the seamer’s talent (and that of Martin Guptill) at a national under-19 tournament at Lincoln.
“He said those two guys were a cut above everybody else in their attitude, so I kind of took note of that.”
Despite a rare double failure in the last test, the first of which was self-inflicted, Kane Williamson is in less need of positive headlines. He got them though in a clutch of stories.
Williamson on 100th Test: ‘Still learning the art of batting’.
“When you’re younger, you’re looking for something that's perfect,” Williamson said two days out from the milestone match. “And after trying really hard to define something, you realise that you’ve probably searched in all corners and it doesn’t really exist.”
Also from Cricinfo: Imagine there was no Kane Williamson. It’s not easy, don’t try.
Cast a close eye over this career and quickly it becomes clear that the leading predictor of New Zealand’s chances of victory in tests is whether Williamson prospers. It becomes difficult to avoid the conclusion that while McCullum, Taylor, Southee, Boult and Wagner have all played major roles in their team’s transformation into their country’s greatest ever team, it is Williamson who has most bent New Zealand’s arc towards excellence.
NZ v Australia, 2nd test, Christchurch, today-Tuesday 11am, TVNZ
THE WEEK THAT WAS
“It’s so weird to see such an enormous field for indoors over the 1500. Somebody is going to have to race very smart to win this,” opined the commentator in the early laps of the 1500m at the World Indoor Championships at Glasgow.
Well, somebody did race very smart and that somebody was our newest world athletics champion, Geordie Beamish.
There was no Jakob Ingebrigtsen or Josh Kerr in the 1500m and indoors form is not always a reliable precursor to outdoors, but that’s by the by - this was an outstanding performance, both physically and tactically.
As Stuff explains, he might be in a position to choose one or some (the schedules would make an attempt at a double tricky) of 1500m, 5000m and his specialist 3000m steeplechase in Paris this year.
“I’m in a really fortunate position, and don’t want to take it for granted,” Beamish said. “I will get back to Boulder and get stuck into some training for Paris, and we’ll see where that takes us. That decision doesn’t need to happen tonight. So, we’ll just wait and see. It’s really nice to have options, but the training doesn’t really change, regardless of what event I pick.”
It wasn’t just Beamish. Hamish Kerr won the high jump, Tom Walsh and Eliza McCartney finished with silvers in the shot put and pole vault, while Zoe Hobbs, Maddi Wesche and Jacko Gill finished just off a podium.
There’s something about watching that black singlet in the middle distances that stirs the soul though.
Speaking of the upcoming Olympics, having become accustomed to nothing but mealy-mouthed, self-serving nonsense from the International Olympic Committee over the years, it was something of a shock to see president Thomas Bach NOT take a fence-sitting position on Russia.
Bach was commenting after Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov accused him of a “betrayal of the ideals of the Olympic movement”.
Said Bach:
“Every day we are seeing even more aggressive statements from the Russian government and officials,” he said. “What is remarkable is that this [aggression] is coming from the very same government that was behind the scandalous manipulation of the anti-doping system before, during and after the Olympic Winter Games, Sochi 2014.
“What is also significant is that the Russian government apparently is ignoring the fact that they forced us into action by their invasion and their annexation of parts of Ukraine,” he added. “They even obliged the Russian Olympic Committee to also annex parts under the jurisdiction of the NOC of Ukraine. This is the origin of all this: the blatant violation of the Olympic Charter led us to our actions.”
Go get ’em Tommy.
I must have had my head under a rock when missing this interesting spat between Hurricanes Poua and the Government. It must have put NZ Rugby, an organisation historically noted for kicking towards the right wing, in an awkward position.
The NZ Herald’s Liam Napier also took a position, which I suspect was diametrically opposed to what you would have heard from the opinion-makers over at stablemate radio station NewstalkZB.
Labelling the Government redneck is a step too far for many – yet when the 180-year-old founding document of New Zealand is challenged and Māori culture is seen to be seriously threatened or diminished, reactions are inevitable…
Who could possibly argue using haka as a powerful vehicle to protest Māori rights is not appropriate.
THE WEEKEND THAT WILL BE
Having not engaged in the pre-season, I’m coming into the Warriors’ opener cold, yet with febrile anticipation. Luckily I have Peter, whose love for the Warriors knows no bounds. Here’s his season preview:
Well, it took 166 days but tonight, the New Zealand Warriors will again run into the blast furnace that is the 2024 NRL season and try to emerge holding two precious competition points. Few Kiwi football teams have engendered such devotion and had so much expectation riding their muscle-bound shoulders.
It’s all down to a remarkable seven months last year when under the guidance of Andrew ‘Webby’ Webster, the team turned a huge corner. The pit ponies became showjumpers.
As a foundation fan, it has amazed me how the team has become so beloved. From a ripple has emerged a tsunami of support. “Up the Wahs” was surely the most quoted phrase of 2023 and the fervour at home games is truly remarkable.
The fans even scream out the team’s victory chant, something previously unthinkable in our stadium. How did this come to be?
It was a perfect storm – a combination of years of disappointment, failures that brought paltry crowds, scorn and ridicule, and yet there was an ever-present sense, an undercurrent that this team had something that made the public want to love them.
Then there was the stoic battle during Covid when they selflessly soldiered on in exile, away from whanau and home-ground advantage, through two years of hardship without complaint.
If ever something welded a bond between club and fanbase, this did.
But they needed just the right individual to sift these ingredients together. They got him in Webster, a Warrior whisperer who it seems has the perfect touch to access the team’s potential. When you meet him, you instantly sense his mana.
So another year kicks off and the anticipation is at an all-time high. I’ve noted a few Australian pundits have been picking the Warriors for the title, but fair dinkum, 26 years of experiencing the most brutal rugby comp in the world makes me wary of predictions. There is a wealth of talent this year with Tohu Harris, Addin Fonua- Blake, and the thrilling return of RTS, but so much rides on the play of one man. Shaun Johnson’s prodigious talent unlocks the rest of the team and I pray that he has an injury-free run.
It will be compelling to see if the adoration continues if the wins suddenly stop. In this respect, 2024 could be as much a test of the fans as the team.
It could be, just possibly, a golden year but, whatever the colour, remember – we are the Warriors, 100 percent!
Thanks Peter.
It’s a ripper of a double-header, with the defending premiers in action after.
NZ Warriors v Cronulla-Sutherland, Auckland, tonight 8pm, SS 4
Melbourne v Penrith, Melbourne, tonight 10.05pm, SS4
There are two standout games of footy to look forward to tomorrow, with the Crusaders looking to break their duck under Rob Penney in what promises to be hostile conditions in Fiji, while there’s a juicy derby in the nation’s capital to kickstart your Saturday festivities.
Fijian Drua v Crusaders, Lautoka, tomorrow 2.05pm, SS1
Hurricanes v Blues, Wellington, tomorrow 7.05pm, SS1
***
Sticking with the 15-man game, Ireland can add the second leg of a Triple Crown and move closer to another Six Nations championship and grand slam if they beat an under-pressure England at Twickenham. After coming within a scrum penalty and a point of making the World Cup final, coach Steve Borthwick is already facing intense scrutiny.
Steve Borthwick will be backed by the RFU but they can’t control how much noise comes from the fans and media. It certainly wasn’t ideal to hear murmurs coming out of the changing room earlier in the week about the dissatisfaction in their training methods.
England v Ireland, London, Sunday 5.45am, SS1
Heavyweight Joseph Parker was brilliant last time out against an undercooked Deontay Wilder, so I’m surprised many still think he is the underdog against China’s Zhilei Zhang. This is a decent, Zhang-focused preview from The Ring.
“The fight with Parker is one I have wanted for some time. We both had big years, and his win over [Deontay] Wilder was very impressive. Whoever wins deserves a title shot for sure.”
Here’s a Parker-focused piece from One News’ Patrick McKendry.
[Trainer Andy] Lee said the Zhang fight would likely require Parker to be more instinctive than in the Wilder fight, when he had time to think. “This fight may be faster.”
Joseph Parker v Zhilei Zhang, Riyadh, tomorrow (approx) 11am, DAZN
It’s a busy weekend of sport in Saudi Arabia (sigh). All it takes is money and a garish golden-ball to get its competitors fawning, including winner Ronnie O’Sullivan:
“It’s been a fantastic tournament, brilliant venue,” said O’Sullivan. “These are the tournaments you want to play in - one table, great crowd, great atmosphere and the music was going in between the frames. It was like we were in some sort of rave.”
I have my doubts that a Saudi rave would look much like the ones I’ve heard about, not unless the House of Saud has undergone a volte-face on attitudes and laws regarding women, homosexuality and recreational drugs, but each to their own.
Meanwhile, F1 is coming to town as the Red Bull soap opera motors along with the suspension of team principal Christian Horner’s accuser. A great line here from Jonathan Liew:
Certainly it has been vaguely amusing over the last few weeks to behold some of the moral squeamishness and knotted indignation generated within the paddock by the Horner affair. The apparent surprise that a product packaged and sold as a schlocky personal soap opera has somehow degenerated into a schlocky personal soap opera. The sheer disbelief that a sport owned and run by rich, unaccountable men and held in some of the world’s most repressive dictatorships might occasionally be lacking in transparency. The belated discovery that there might actually be such a thing as bad publicity, negative publicity, the kind of publicity that does not emerge fully formed from the editing suite, complete with pumping soundtrack and pre-written storylines.
Saudi Arabian GP, Jeddah, Sunday 6am, SS2
It’s a game that is being marketed as a quasi title decider, which it assuredly isn’t, because it conveniently ignores the fact there is a third horse in the title race. It is crucial though, as is the battle for fourth (and the final Champions League spot), which precedes it.
Aston Villa v Tottenham Hotspur, Villa Park, Monday 2am, Sky EPL
Liverpool v Manchester City, Anfield, Monday 4.45am, Sky EPL
Feeling nostalgic this morning. Exactly 50 years ago today I was an excited Year 8 taking a sneaky Friday off school and heading to Lancaster Park for what ended up being NZ's first test win over Australia. Such great memories - Richard Hadlee off the long run with the skipping start bowling Ian Chappell and Doug Walters. The big left-armer Richard Collinge, of the loping long 45 degree angle run-up, diving back to his right to catch and bowl Ian Redpath. And later in the match, Glenn Turner's two centuries, a young Jeremy Coney sticking with him to steady the final run chase. And keeper Ken Wadsworth, long fair hair under his black cap, flamboyantly cover driving the winning boundary off Greg Chappell. (Little did we know that very sadly he would be dead from cancer in just over two years). The unusual noise of the crowd in those more conservative times. I could go on. Let's hope the gods of sentimentality inspire the Black Caps today.
It could be worse; there’s a wee way to go before we hit the lowest ebb ALA the NZ Cricket team of 1995/96 era. (Pre Black Caps branding). That was the nadir.