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Taini Jamison Trophy

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Tennis x Sports Crossover at the 2025 Australian Open: Super Rugby, All Blacks & Wallabies preview along with Netball in New Zealand and Jack Doohan under pressure for only the first six races in Formula 1 at Alpine-Renault

by Sports Benches

And last but not least, how about we give a shoutout to two Wallabies stars Harry Wilson (Queensland Reds) and Max Jorgensen (NSW Waratahs), who were both in attendance at Melbourne Park this weekend to cheer on Alex De Minaur.

Yet, the Demon did win after all to play in the 4th round for the 4th straight year of his AO men’s singles career.

It was also nice seeing Harry and Max lend over that Wallabies green and gold jersey to Alex and look at him go! – How good! 

Rugby Union

We first have a jam-pack year of Rugby ahead of us with the 11-team Super Rugby competition set to start in a month’s time before the British and Irish Lions arrive at our own backyard during winter. Plus, there’s Club Rugby at the same, the Rugby Championship & Bledisloe Cup in August-September, and we finish off the year in Europe v the North’s best sides on earth.

First of all, it’s been a bitter blow not seeing Melbourne field a Rugby team anymore in the Rebels when they are a big sporting city due to financial problems. But with lots of people playing AFL (Aussie Rules) and even NRL (Rugby League), it seems there’s no room for Rugby to succeed in that place unfortunately.

Now we are down to four teams with the Western Force still around & as we all know the ACT Brumbies would love to finally play in a Grand Final. However, we would need the Tahs, Reds or even Force to be playing in the semis either way in order for the Wallabies to succeed & that includes the Brumbies. It’s never been a better time to try taking that advantage now, especially with Joseph Suaalii onboard from the Sydney Roosters (NRL) to the Waratahs. 

Other than that, the NZ teams will still be dominating for the most part along with a new-look Crusaders, even though the All Blacks had their bad times last season when it comes to the Springboks and France.

Netball

If Rugby isn’t big enough for NZ, why not Netball when they also have a huge year ahead? 

The Silver Ferns will be stopping by in Sydney soon to spend nine days there as part of their training camp including a Practice Match v the NSW Swifts featuring the Ferns former star shooter (for now) Grace Nweke on Sunday, February 2.

They will also have a slightly different ANZ Premiership season amongst half of the six teams having brand new coaches (Mainland Tactix, Southern Steel and Northern Stars) between May-July including Finals with a two-round home-and-away format across 10-12 weeks rather than playing three times last year.

Yes, the Ferns haven’t organised any matches lined-up yet for the second half season but we are still expected to see the Taini Jamison Trophy series back regardless of opponent. Although England have won it last year but the good news is that they will be able to defend the Constellation Cup v the Aussie Diamonds following their 3-1 series win back in late October.

And shoutout to former Silver Fern and current GWS Giants (Western Sydney) player Gina Crampton who plays at Wing Attack and was also in attendance from the stands for Alex De Minaur’s game yesterday – sure she still has plenty to offer at age 33, especially playing against the best in Super Netball.

Formula 1

What else? Rugby & Netball isn’t the only sport who mix and matches well with Tennis.

I also wish Alpine-Renault’s Jack Doohan from Formula 1 was there to see Alex also because they do look like each other with both of them having a smiley face personality. Surely, Jack can get some tips on defying those odds from Alex when there’s a bunch of reverse drivers waiting in his wings under pressure including Franco Colapinto. Alex did beat another Argentine actually yesterday too in Francisco Cerundolo; hopefully, this will cheer Jack up in a bid to keep his seat over the first six odd races of the season.

Although I can understand Jack is more aligned with Ayrna Sabalenka because she visited his team’s garage in his unexpected F1 debut last month at Abu Dhabi & Jack came back in return for Ayrna when she played a match a few weeks ago at the Brisbane International.

Post-Notes

Can’t believe there’s a whole lot of other athletes watching for fun there rather than looking to go toe-to-toe with the pro Tennis players & see who’s better? 

Time will tell.

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2024 Taini Jamison Trophy: Silver Ferns bounce back even they kept their starting 7 throughout the full hour with the late win

by Sports Benches

The Silver Ferns may not have come here tonight for the Taini Jamison Trophy since the series has already been decided the other day to the England Roses. However, they have at least something to offer ahead of the upcoming four-game Constellation Cup series later month following their five goal win in Invercargill by 61-56. They’ve won most quarters other than the 3rd with the four-goal lead from half-time where the Ferns still struggled at times such as ball retention, etc. 

Also, coach Dame Noeline Taurua may not had made any changes – despite leading by a few goals when she could’ve just make 1-2 late fresh faces as if it was a practice game ahead of the Trans-Tasman series. But again, a win is a win after all to finish things off on a high.

The Constellation Cup will begin two weeks from now on Sunday 20th October in Wellington followed by Auckland for Game 2 a few days later on Wednesday 23rd October. Then they will fly out to Australia to compete another two games there also Sunday 27th October in Perth and Wednesday 30th October in Melbourne to finish off the 2024 season.

Kelly Jackson, take a bow!! as She has been the Great Wall keeper of the Silver Ferns defensive back three after an outstanding performance tonight to shut down the England Roses pair of Helen Housby and Liv Tchine. She never disappoints every time she stars on-court at all levels including the highest Internationally. Also, she’s got her Central Pulse team-mate Parris Mason by her side including Maddy Gordon, who fortunately didn’t get hauled off this time at Centre which was good to see. No doubt we will see more of this trio later this month when they will take on the Aussie Diamonds.

Next up is the Silver Ferns Captain and veteran goal attack specalist Ameliaranne Ekenasio, having barely looked out of place as always alongside sharp shooter Grace Nweke in the Ferns attacking front two. She got away with 13 out of 14 shots at a total of 93% where she credits a functional mid-court pack that got the best out of her and Grace. They were able to help the Ferns win most of the quarters other than the 3rd part, which still needs some work as it’s something the Ferns need to work next time when they will take on the Aussie Diamonds. But other than that, a win is a win after all – despite not able to retain the Taini Jamison Trophy.

And last but not least, Liv Tchine’s stock is rising as England’s mainstay goal shooter at 22 years of age. She’s been making waves before at Domestic level with London Pulse in the Netball Superleague & Liv does not disappoint at all in the England Roses thanks to the likes of NSW Swifts star Helen Housby & another youngster Lois Pearson around her. Yes, Game 3 may have been a dead rubber when their back and mid-court areas might not have quite gelled as they would’ve like – especially when the Roses were chopping and changing with their bench while seeing a couple of new players getting tested here. But at least Liv knows where the net is and she’s loves doing this for fun as congratulations with the series win & sure we’ll hear more from her next time including Super Netball in Australia if she wants to test herself at the highest of levels at some point.

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Netball: England Roses too good over the Ferns in Game 2 by four goals that was enough to clinch the Taini Jaimson Trophy Series with one game to spare this Sunday

by Sports Benches

So there you have it, England have not only won Game 2 but also the Taini Jamison Trophy series at Te Rauparaha Arena with one game left going into this Sunday in Invercargill. Silver Ferns as we know it were always effective with their good starts having won the first quarter alone (16-13) followed by the first half (28-27). Then England began to flip the script when they were leading by a good gap of 4-8 goals, Although the Ferns did the best they can that late to stop the trophy from leaving its own shores. But at the end of the day, too good from England who were very certain to win this game once again by four goals (55-59) on top of a nail-biter Game 1 the other day (58-59). 

How can you not ignore Lois Pearson when she was an excellent support player to the England Roses front two tonight at Wing Attack? She’s got all sorts of running athleticism and the range of passing needed to help find her shooters in Helen Housby and Liv Tchine as well as being sound in defense thanks to the Ferns huge weakness through the mid-court. It turns out the Roses were leading so comfortably by a few goals while the game goes on, particularly throughout the 2nd half and yet Lois couldn’t go any wrong off the back of her excellent season both Domestic & Internationally. Keep a good eye on her over the next coming years as she will keep on getting better with age as being part of a winning series is a great first step & who knows if she’ll be willing to play in Australia’s Super Netball later on.

Here’s another England Roses player that also made a huge difference to stay well ahead of the Silver Ferns and it’s Beth Cobden who came on as reserve at Wing Defense. She brings a wealth of experience to the national setup, having kept a great eye on the Ferns mid-court area & Beth helped taken advantage of their errors with great hands. Goes to show she’s always needed when she’s ready even when Beth is also good with leadership around such a young and talented squad. Looks like she isn’t done just yet so she can make sure the Roses can be on top every time, next time – just like that series win tonight in Game No.2.

And Maddy Gordon was the one the Silver Ferns have been so desperate to stop the Roses in their tracks through the middle at centre thanks to the Ferns’ fast start and late comeback bid. Okay, as we all know, she was injured earlier this season and had to be on managed minutes on her way back on-court. But that doesn’t mean this can apply the same at International level and what happened without Maddy is that the Ferns weren’t simply dynamic as the Roses beyond the back defensive three & unfortunately, they left it too late when it comes to poor selection + chopping & changing tactics. They will have to wait next year to get that Taini Jamison Trophy back but they have to use Game 3 now as a practice match for the Constellation Cup v the Aussie Diamonds later this month.

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International Netball: England Roses win by one goal over the Silver Ferns to begin the 2024 Taini Jamison Trophy Series in Auckland

by Sports Benches

Nearly two months after the 2024 ANZ Premiership Grand Final, NZ Netball is back this time to begin their International season on home soil starting with the three-match Taini Jamison Trophy series v England Roses. It’s been a big arm wrestle between those two top-notch teams with the Ferns winning that first quarter while England were right next to them as both teams shared the scoreboard at half-time by 29-29. Later on, the Ferns’ starts/restarts never looked out of place but then England began to stretch a couple of goal leads going into the final 15 minutes. It was either Ferns or Roses to settle the score and it was the England Roses who won by just one goal (58-59) in Auckland. England lead the three-match series 1-0 going into Game 2 on Wednesday at Te Rauparaha Arena in Poirua which is the alternate current home of the Central Pulse.

Funmi Fadoju is the woman of the hour at goal defense for the England Roses, having done a spectacular job bombing up an inconsistent Silver Ferns front two attack. Who needs height when she’s got so much defensive quality alongside Fran Williams (she’s right around at 6ft by the way) at goal keeper? She also demonstrated some excellent attacking transition through the mid-court that got the best out of her front two where goals after goals were needed to steer clear off the Ferns. Keep a good eye on her who always keeps on improving like she did to the Diamonds over the past week in the Quad Series with more to come at age 22.

It’s not just Fadoju who is putting in these hard yards, Imogen Allison is another standout England Roses player to look at in the middle (centre position). She got away with 19 goal assists, 38 feeds and 4 general play turnovers that got the best out of her front two duo in Liv Tchine and Helen Housby. She too struck the perfect balance with credit to England’s solid defense while she was able to get around the Ferns backline on the counter-attack & yet her side has been pulling up trees from 2, 3, 4 goal leads to a relieved full-time win. Don’t forget she’s at the right place at 26 as Allison is already Queensland Firebirds bound next season.

And the Silver Ferns starring goal shooter and NSW Swifts bound Grace Nweke had a stunning shooting day after all, who only missed a couple of shots (49 out of 55) while making a couple of rebounds/general play turnovers to keep the Ferns in check. Grace credits the Ferns fast start and restart including the team’s solid defense. Yes, her team were so unlucky towards the end to England by just the one goal as at least a draw will do it. But she definitely needs support in & out of the circle, especially when it comes to the Ferns’s selection/tactics other than a rock-solid defense of their own & unfortunately that really cost them tonight.

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