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Otago Daily Times
18-05-2025
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
Green Island on top in fired-up derby
Green Island retained the bragging rights in the derby game against Taieri. There was a lot of feeling in the match at Peter Johnston Park on Saturday. There was pushing and shoving and only some of that was during scrum time. Taieri dominated for stretches but they made far too many mistakes and were perhaps too one-dimensional on attack. Green Island had more finishing ability and winger Michael Manson only needs half a yard and he is gone. The Grizzlies led 14-10 at halftime. They did not start well, though. They lost a player to the bin in the opening 10 minutes and another late in the half. Taieri had discipline problems as well. Josh Whaanga had to spend some time on the naughty step for snatching an intercept from an offside position and Sam Fischli received a yellow in the second half. The game slipped away from Taieri when Manson made another of his trademark runs in the second half to set up a try for Sam Gilbert. And then Sam Nemec-Vial scooped up a loose pass and ran in from around 60m. Taieri scored two late tries to close the gap and secure a bonus point. Whaanga had a good game for Taieri despite his yellow card. Manson made a difference for Green Island and loose forward Amos Roddick was a standout. — Adrian Seconi Southern 31 Kaikorai 15 Death by scrum. A bit dramatic perhaps, but it must have felt like that for Kaikorai. Southern leaned on the heavy-set men up front to set up a 31-15 win at Bishopscourt. Prop Mike Mata'afa pushes hard enough for two men. Hooker Isileli Otunuku had a strong game around the field. Hardworking lock Corban Agar and Aron Einarsson added their weight to an impressive scrum, and Harry Taylor popped up exactly where he was needed on defence. Centre Justin Malifa was dangerous when he got the ball in space. Kaikorai started strongly, though. They held on to the ball for phase after phase during the opening few minutes. They went left, right, left and right again. Eventually, they busted through close to the ruck and halfback Taine Hand got in support and scored. Kaikorai's ability to use width was propped by their excellent loose forward duo of Slade McDowall and Lucas Casey, who enhanced their reputations. But the game started to slip away one scrum at a time. Southern dominated possession and territory. They also dominated unforced errors. They blew so many opportunities in the first half and went into the break trailing 15-7. But Kaikorai just did not have an answer for their power up front and Southern scored four answered tries in the second half to secure an important win. — Adrian Seconi Harbour 48 Alhambra-Union 27 A first-half scoring blitz set Harbour up for victory in the Rooster Memorial match at Watson Park on Saturday. The annual match between Harbour and Alhambra-Union, formerly known as the Ricoh Ross Godman Memorial, played since 2014, now honours both Godman brothers with the death of Roy last year, and has been renamed the Rooster Memorial, as both Ross and Roy were known to many as Rooster. Harbour fullback Taniela Filimone set the first quarter alight with a scoring blitz in the opening minutes. This was quickly followed by a procession of four further scoring moves for a 31-0 lead after just 20 minutes. Harbour may have bolted out to a dominant lead, but Alhambra-Union began to regroup. Their smaller but more mobile pack began to stop the Harbour big men in their tracks. Halfback Oliver Thode and twin brother William, at first five, made great use of the increasing possession. Loose forward Connor Aldrich and lock Levi Turoa proved a force in the lineout. Oliver, who scored twice himself, played a major role in his sides other three tries and was a standout. He put plenty of pressure on his opposite and Highlander Nathan Hastie. For Harbour, Filimone was always a danger when running the ball up. While the Harbour defence was outstanding out wide, it was aided by some superb work up front from flanker Toni Taufa, locks Carlos Miln and Boston Hunt and prop Darius Fidow. — Wayne Parsons Dunedin 69 Zingari-Richmond 7 Apart from the opening few minutes, Dunedin totally dominated this game. They spent large periods of the first half camped in the Zingari 22. They were held up over the line on three occasions and only had a Cam Burgess penalty to show for their early endeavour. That changed when hooker Liam Arthur Hunt kicked a 50-22 and, from the quickly taken lineout, lock Jamie Mowat crashed over for the converted try to give them a 10-point lead after 17 minutes. They scored two more tries before halftime to Louis Lepionka (No 8) and fullback Max Webb and that took its toll on a tired looking Zingari pack with still 40 minutes to play. Dunedin racked up 7 further tries in the second spell with big winger Oscar Schmidt-Uli grabbing a hat-trick. He just had too much pace and power for the Zingari backline. Lepionka added a second showing searing pace as he scorched down the left wing. Joe Parkinson the centre scored the try of the game when Dunedin counter-attacked from a turnover 70m out and the ball went through five sets of hands and found Parkinson to cut back in from the touchline to go over close to the posts. The Dunedin pack controlled the lineouts and dominated possession in the loose and their speedy outside backs didn't squander the glut of possession. Dunedin flanker Curtis Palmer was everywhere and a menace with ball in hand as was prop Rhys Hughes. Young No 8 Louis Lepionka showed his full range of skills and extreme pace. Burgess ran the game and set his outsides away with aplomb. Schmidt-Uli and fullback Webb took full advantage of that opportunity. With regular hooker Aukustino Salanoa disappearing to Southland during the week, Zingari really struggled to maintain possession at lineout team and that didn't help. No 8 Tofatuimoana Solia looked powerful with ball in hand in the first spell and Ben Fakava was the best of the backs. — Paul Dwyer Round 8 The scores Green Island 26 (Sam Nemec-Vial, Michael Manson, James Arscott, Sam Gilbert tries; Gilbert 3 con), Taieri 20 (Reef Newdick, Morgan Jones, Jack Sexton tries; Samuel Waitoa con, pen). Halftime 14-10. Southern 31 (Harry Taylor, Konrad Toleafoa, Wilson Driver, Bede Dodd-Edgar, Mika Mafi tries; Wyndham Patuawa 3 con), Kaikorai 15 (Taine Hand, Slade McDowall tries; Ben Miller con, pen). Halftime: 15-7 Kaikorai. Harbour 48 (Taniela Filimone, Jeff Ikanei, Taylor Dale, Willie Tufui, Nathan Hastie, Wiremu Brailey, Toni Taufa, Carlos Miln tries; Nathan Hastie 4 con), Alhambra-Union 27 (Oliver Thode 2, Anzac Tipene, Arnold Dinh, Ramesh Khatri tries, William Thode con). Halftime: 36-5. Dunedin 69 (Oscar Schmidt Uli 3, Louis Lepionka 2, Max Webb, Jamie Mowat, Joe Parkinson, Cam Burgess, Jarius Losefa tries; Burgess 8 con, pen Zingari-Richmond 7 (Ben Fakava try; Cooper Grant con) Halftime: Dunedin 22-0. Standings P W D L F A B Pts Green Is 8 5 0 3 269 199 7 27 Taieri 7 5 0 2 235 136 6 26 Dunedin 7 5 0 2 234 97 5 25 Harbour 7 5 0 2 189 207 4 24 Southern 7 4 0 3 238 161 7 23 Kaikorai 7 4 0 3 257 187 4 20 University 7 3 0 4 248 223 5 17 Z-Rich 7 1 0 6 179 327 3 7 AU 7 0 0 7 114 426 1 1
Otago Daily Times
06-05-2025
- Sport
- Otago Daily Times
Defence letting the side down
The Otago Nuggets have nine games remaining to salvage what they can for the NBL season. But first they need to play some defence, writes sports reporter Adrian Seconi in his mid-term report. The good This should be brief, but the Nuggets have shown some potential. However, with three wins from 12 games, there is more material for the other two categories. Arguably their two best performances were recorded in the losses column. They were edged 97-94 by the Auckland Tuatara in Dunedin on April 6. That game appeared to be heading for a blowout win for the visitors. But the Nuggets fought admirably and even had a late chance to win it. Don Carey jun poured in 29 points and Jose Perez muscled his way inside for 24 points. The Nuggets have no trouble scoring when those two are firing. Jaylen Sebree (13 points, 12 rebounds) and Jonathan Janssen (14 points) chipped in and they ran a classy team very close. They pushed the defending champion Canterbury Rams into overtime in Christchurch later that month. Had they won those two games then the season might be shaping up differently. They could have used them as a springboard for a more confident display against the Nelson Giants, which was a must-win game that got away from them. Carey (22.3 points and 6.4 assists) is in the top 10 in the league for average points and average assists per game. Jose Perez (20.8 points) is also in the top 10 for average points and has been the Nuggets' most productive rebounder. The bad The KPIs will not please the investors. The statistics mostly match what you might expect from a team on a seven-game losing streak and a couple of spots off the bottom of the competition standings. The Nuggets' last win was against the Indian Panthers in Auckland on April 4. There have been a couple of near-misses since then, but close losses do not improve your win percentage. Otago started the campaign reasonably. They had three wins in their first five games. But their defence opens wider than Winston Peters' mouth on immigration issues. The Nuggets concede more points per game (96.8) than any other team other than the Panthers. If you have to score 97 points to win a game of basketball, you are not going to win many games of basketball. They rebound better than you might expect - 37.7 per game - and they do quite well grabbing offensive rebounds (sixth in the league). But they are the worst team in the league at converting second-chance points, averaging 9.1 points per game. They are also last for blocks per game (2.3), last for free throw percentage (65.5) and 10th for field goal percentage (42.8%). There is hope, though. The Nuggets lead the league in three-pointers made (140) and are the fourth most accurate team (34.8%) from beyond the arc. Bombs away. The ugly The Nuggets have been like a plant-based alternative since Todd Withers returned to Australia following a three-game cameo. While tofu is fine if you marinate it to within inches of its life, and jackfruit might even pass for pulled pork, they are no substitute for a good, meaty defence. Withers brought a defensive intensity few can match and he lifted the Nuggets from the ranks of the mediocre. It is no coincidence they won two of their three games while he was still gracing the singlet. The other win came over the beleaguered Panthers. Withers made up only 20% of the team when he was on the court. But he was 100% more committed than his replacement, Sebree, who likes to flex when he cuts to the hoop but folds down the other end. Perez tries. But he is more bull than gazelle and has the top speed of a three-toed sloth missing one of its toes. Janssen is out of position at centre. But, as the tallest guy on the roster, he gets stuck trying to shut down a different big each week and it is not his game. Carey is in the team to score and he does that well in patches. But he is not a particularly hungry defender. Some people throw themselves around, like Canterbury Rams player Walter Brown. He dived on the ball to secure possession for his side to help the Rams eventually beat the Nuggets 108-107 in overtime. That ball was right at Carey's feet. That leaves Darcy Knox as the only other regular member of the starting five. The Nuggets captain does his best. But it is not a starting five blessed with much defensive potential. They often get shredded by the bench during training scrimmages. The Nuggets can reliably lean on Matthew Bardsley to bring some defensive hustle from the bench. He is hungry and he gets stops. Maybe he ought to start more. Something needs to change. The defence needs more bite.
