It's pretty clear they have a plan which involves developing players to offset the fact that they can't spend big on marquees. It seems to be working but maybe not fast enough.
I'll also call bs on that one, kiwis played the less minutes then ever this season.
Maybe - I haven't looked at the stats, but the Phoenix had a hard tack by saying that they wouldn't focus on kiwis at the end of last season which may have caused it.
When WelNix bought the club they talked about developing young kiwis as the best way to be competitive, they setup the academy, and this year we've had Ridenten, Singh, and Cacace having breakout seasons. Greenacre has also said recently that he thinks there's a few more who are ready to step up as well.
That seems to me that they had / have a plan that's being executed.