Potentially significant injuries to Bouzoukis and Watson could slow Olympic down.
Gianni had to go off after a big stretch (to take an outrageous touch) that led to the second goal, and Watson was down at full time, looked like a knee after planting his foot - no contact at all. Both would be pretty big losses if they're out. Still, there's worse options than Prins/Sam Mason-Smith to fill the gaps.
Potentially significant injuries to Bouzoukis and Watson could slow Olympic down.
Gianni had to go off after a big stretch (to take an outrageous touch) that led to the second goal, and Watson was down at full time, looked like a knee after planting his foot - no contact at all. Both would be pretty big losses if they're out. Still, there's worse options than Prins/Sam Mason-Smith to fill the gaps.
Did Gianni go off after that 3rd goal? (Agreed on the touch to pull it out of thin air, that was brilliant!)
Pretty sure the commentator said he was up and able to run it off, but the camera panned away from the action after the goal was scored and I didnt end up seeing anyone go to the bench/anyone coming on as a replacement.
**Edit - Just checked tribe and it said he was replaced on the hour mark**
👉 Wellington Olympic are the only team to go 3/3 so far 👉 Mint efforts from Wellington Phoenix & Auckland FC Ressies 👉 Late equalisers for Auckland United & Western Springshttps://t.co/NOJhq0CTPn
Biggest game gotta by Olympic vs Auckland City in Welly! Are ACFC still kicking or Olympic to roll on?
The credible Auckland reserves should be favourites against struggling Southern League champs Coastal (sad, that), while United v Springs two good teams who should be competing for a place in the grand final.
Auckland United you'd fancy to bag a first win against the Nix with some first teamers away.
And the national league shield goes on the line as the unpredictable Wests take on Birko tomorrow. image.png175.91 KB
Went to Olympic vs Auckland City. Honestly, not the game I expected, a pretty dull affair where both teams struggled to create and adapt to the blustery conditions. First half was even but ACFC were definitely more threatening going into the second half, the hosts just couldn't even get their passes right. Scored a scrappy goal and did enough from there with Olympic finally showing some attacking impetus towards the end.
Despite the lack of entertainment and the quiet atmosphere, a result Auckland City will be delighted with, and the race for a grand final place looking real open now.
Been meaning to do this for a while but have gotten a ton of player stats, so here they are.
All stats are from 2022 to 2024.
Unfortunately, I mucked something up in the code and am currently unable to do most clean-sheets, most goals conceded and most pens scored. If y'all want I will do a part two with more stats and an updated code to fix the missed stats (maybe like when the most goals are scored, most multi goal games, most matches as captain etc).
There have been 470 player that have played in the league.
Most Appearances: 27 Gianni Bouzoukis 27 Adam Mitchell 27 Riley Grover 27 Oscar Mason 26 Michael Den Heijer 26 Angus Kilkolly 26 Declan Tyndall 26 Sam Lack 25 Tor Davenport Petersen 25 Scott Basalaj
Most Goals: 28 Garbhan Coughlan 21 Gianni Bouzoukis 12 Angus Kilkolly 10 Monty Patterson 10 Edward Wilkinson 9 Daniel Bunch 9 Hamish Watson 9 Jack-Henry Sinclair 8 Nicolas Zambrano 8 Lyle Matthysen
Most Yellow Cards: 9 James Hoyle 8 Daniel Maclennan 7 Cameron Emerson 6 Ross Haviland 6 Riley Grover 5 Jackson Manuel 5 Haris Zeb 5 Tor Davenport Petersen 5 Sam Richards 5 Benjamin Lapslie
Most Red Cards: *(Only as straight red cards) 19 players @ 1 red card
Most Minutes Played: 2,430 Oscar Mason 2,332 Adam Mitchell 2,312 Riley Grover 2,243 Scott Basalaj 2,189 Garbhan Coughlan 2,169 Michael Den Heijer 2,111 Lyle Matthysen 2,047 Tor Davenport Petersen 2,043 James Hoyle 2,040 Edward Wilkinson
Most subbed on players: 20 Sam Lack 17 Harry Mason 14 William Stephen 13 Angus Kilkolly 13 Declan Tyndall
Most subbed off players: 16 Aidan Barbour-Ryan 14 Cameron Emerson 12 Gianni Bouzoukis 11 Cameron Mackenzie 10 Daniel Atkinson
Most benched players: 11 Kyle Baxter 9 Regan Diver 9 Conor Jamieson 9 Cam Brown 9 Frewen Watts
Been meaning to do this for a while but have gotten a ton of player stats, so here they are.
All stats are from 2022 to 2024.
Unfortunately, I mucked something up in the code and am currently unable to do most clean-sheets, most goals conceded and most pens scored. If y'all want I will do a part two with more stats and an updated code to fix the missed stats (maybe like when the most goals are scored, most multi goal games, most matches as captain etc).
There have been 470 player that have played in the league.
Most Appearances: 27 Gianni Bouzoukis 27 Adam Mitchell 27 Riley Grover 27 Oscar Mason 26 Michael Den Heijer 26 Angus Kilkolly 26 Declan Tyndall 26 Sam Lack 25 Tor Davenport Petersen 25 Scott Basalaj
Most Goals: 28 Garbhan Coughlan 21 Gianni Bouzoukis 12 Angus Kilkolly 10 Monty Patterson 10 Edward Wilkinson 9 Daniel Bunch 9 Hamish Watson 9 Jack-Henry Sinclair 8 Nicolas Zambrano 8 Lyle Matthysen
Most Yellow Cards: 9 James Hoyle 8 Daniel Maclennan 7 Cameron Emerson 6 Ross Haviland 6 Riley Grover 5 Jackson Manuel 5 Haris Zeb 5 Tor Davenport Petersen 5 Sam Richards 5 Benjamin Lapslie
Most Red Cards: *(Only as straight red cards) 19 players @ 1 red card
Most Minutes Played: 2,430 Oscar Mason 2,332 Adam Mitchell 2,312 Riley Grover 2,243 Scott Basalaj 2,189 Garbhan Coughlan 2,169 Michael Den Heijer 2,111 Lyle Matthysen 2,047 Tor Davenport Petersen 2,043 James Hoyle 2,040 Edward Wilkinson
Most subbed on players: 20 Sam Lack 17 Harry Mason 14 William Stephen 13 Angus Kilkolly 13 Declan Tyndall
Most subbed off players: 16 Aidan Barbour-Ryan 14 Cameron Emerson 12 Gianni Bouzoukis 11 Cameron Mackenzie 10 Daniel Atkinson
Most benched players: 11 Kyle Baxter 9 Regan Diver 9 Conor Jamieson 9 Cam Brown 9 Frewen Watts
Surprisingly low-scoring week in the Men's #NZNationalLeague but still plenty of drama:
👉 Auckland City left it late against their old rivals 👉 Coastal Spirit are finally in the win column 👉 Plus our first (and hopefully only) nil-all draw this seasonhttps://t.co/uOVc6EXavo
Another 5 games to put in this bank this long weekend.
South Island showdown sees Coastal attempting to build momentum after beating Knights II, but United will be super keen to resurrect their top two chances.
Nix vs Miramar could be a goodie but tbh they play all the time and neither will make the GF.
Auckland City with a huge win over Olympic last time will want to back it up... but iirc Knights II did snag a win against them in the Northern League.
Birko vs Olympic is a fantastic clash because both while still among the favourites had pretty surprising losses last weekend. Gotta hit back.
Can Auckland Utd get a first win away against Springs? Hosts could go top with a win as other strong sides facing off. image.png175.06 KB image.png67.91 KB
Another 5 games to put in this bank this long weekend.
South Island showdown sees Coastal attempting to build momentum after beating Knights II, but United will be super keen to resurrect their top two chances.
Nix vs Miramar could be a goodie but tbh they play all the time and neither will make the GF.
Auckland City with a huge win over Olympic last time will want to back it up... but iirc Knights II did snag a win against them in the Northern League.
Birko vs Olympic is a fantastic clash because both while still among the favourites had pretty surprising losses last weekend. Gotta hit back.
Can Auckland Utd get a first win away against Springs? Hosts could go top with a win as other strong sides facing off. image.png175.06 KB image.png67.91 KB
All the yarns from another classic week in the Men's #NZNationalLeague:
👉 A thrilling comeback win for Wellington Olympic 👉 Oli Sail's Auckland FC Reserves at Kiwitea 👉 Stalemate in the Southern Derby 👉 Good wins for Miramar Rangers & Western Springshttps://t.co/eFsnsXXUW2
Anyone know the impact on the top domestic leagues?
It looks like Northern, Central and Southern will be the de facto second division. Not sure how they will deal with promotion/relegation across the regions.
Say for example the bottom team from each region gets relegated.
On one hand it’s important to have a proper national league with teams from across NZ but on the other hand *hypothetically* if the four Auckland teams finished in the top four spots it would be absolute madness to see the team that came in fourth get relegated if it placed higher than the best performing teams from another region.
A big what if scenario but it would need to be addressed before the new format takes place.
Risk either way is a single region national league without a regional promotion/relegation set up - or - better regional representation but worse teams.
You want to hope that teams are legitimately good on their own merits and neither scenario would take place but it’s a tough one!
I hope the Nix and Akl reserves are not exempt from relegation. Absolutely fair if they are in it from the start. But if the clubs don’t put enough funding/effort into their reserves. They should be relegated
Anyone know the impact on the top domestic leagues?
It looks like Northern, Central and Southern will be the de facto second division. Not sure how they will deal with promotion/relegation across the regions.
Say for example the bottom team from each region gets relegated.
On one hand it’s important to have a proper national league with teams from across NZ but on the other hand *hypothetically* if the four Auckland teams finished in the top four spots it would be absolute madness to see the team that came in fourth get relegated if it placed higher than the best performing teams from another region.
A big what if scenario but it would need to be addressed before the new format takes place.
Risk either way is a single region national league without a regional promotion/relegation set up - or - better regional representation but worse teams.
You want to hope that teams are legitimately good on their own merits and neither scenario would take place but it’s a tough one!
Sink or swim imo. Last placed team (and maybe second last) gets relegated, with a playoff between the regional champions for promotion. If the league gets ends up being half Auckland teams, then so be it. Others need to step up their game if that's the case.
Anyone know the impact on the top domestic leagues?
It looks like Northern, Central and Southern will be the de facto second division. Not sure how they will deal with promotion/relegation across the regions.
Say for example the bottom team from each region gets relegated.
On one hand it’s important to have a proper national league with teams from across NZ but on the other hand *hypothetically* if the four Auckland teams finished in the top four spots it would be absolute madness to see the team that came in fourth get relegated if it placed higher than the best performing teams from another region.
A big what if scenario but it would need to be addressed before the new format takes place.
Risk either way is a single region national league without a regional promotion/relegation set up - or - better regional representation but worse teams.
You want to hope that teams are legitimately good on their own merits and neither scenario would take place but it’s a tough one!
It may been confirmed somewhere - not sure - but I guess the first season will keep the regional split: probably 5 Northern, 4 Central and 3 Southern (Phoenix and AFC inclusive). If they judge who qualifies just off next season it could mean a lot of money spent in recruiting over this off-season so teams have the best foot forward. In that case, I think it could be good to judge who deserves based off over the last couple seasons.
Would that give a league along the lines of: ACFC Birkenhead Auckland Utd Eastern Suburbs/Springs Olympic Miramar Western Suburbs/Napier Christchurch Utd Cash Tech Coastal Spirit (AFC) (Phoenix)
From there it should hopefully be fully open - you finish you last you get relegated, including the pro teams as people mention; though I don't expect that will be the case.
If they want a 1.5 up/down could add 11th place to a playoff with the regional winners. Could also make it slightly easier going four teams into two spots, as opposed to three into one. Maybe two random draw home/away ties and the winners play in the league the next season (ie winner SL vs winner CL and then 11th place NatL vs winner NorL).
Managing the overlap between OFC League (finishes May) and National League (starts March) will big for Auckland II.
It will mean for the first few months of National League (NL) it will basically be Auckland III. So a bit messy in that teams who play a below strength Auckland FC in the first months of NL, get an advantage over teams who play them post May.
Bit easier to manage for them moving players between 3 squads (ALM as well) if you are having Melbourne & Auckland OFC hubs through March-April. Much trickier if in that time period is OFC hubs in the travel connection limited, Island countries.
Same problem for Christchurch United and South Island United (OFC entrant). Though less so if SI United is truly players from everywhere, and not just CU in sheeps clothing.
As always when you tinker with the domestic football comps, there is all sorts of ramifications, good and bad.
I guess both Auckland II & CU get a pratice run on how to cope with the above, when the new OFC League overlaps with the Northern and Southern Leagues for a few months.
Can see Auckland FC having up to 30-40 young players contracted outside their ALM squad, so they can field two reserve teams next March-May.
