MP Simeon Brown has gained the health portfolio from Dr Shane Reti, and Hamas has released its first three Israeli hostages as a ceasefire begins. Video / Mark Mitchell, AFP
Opinion by Michael Burgess
Michael Burgess has been a Sports Journalist for New Zealand's Herald since 2005, covering the Olympics, Fifa World Cups, and America’s Cup campaigns.
Chris Wood has scored 14 goals for Nottingham Forest, so far, this Premier League season.
Forest sit third on the table and will be targeting a European place.
Only six active players have scored more Premier League goals than the All White.
Many years from now, New Zealand kids will ask their grandparents about Chris Wood.
They’ll look at the records, the statistics, the headlines and wonder ... did it really happen? Was there really a Kiwi, they’ll ask, who scored more than 80 goals in the English PremierLeague?
Was there a New Zealander who found the net against Manchester City, Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham?
In the sphere of Kiwi sport, Wood’s deeds have been extraordinary for some time, as he has managed the most difficult job in football – scoring goals – in the richest and most competitive league in the world. But lately, what he is doing feels a bit supernatural, a bit unbelievable.
Just over halfway through the season, Wood has already notched 14 goals for Forest. That’s nearly half the team’s total, which has propelled them to 44 points, after they amassed just 32 points in the entire previous campaign.
His tally has come from just 37 shots, with a 59% shooting accuracy.
Given Forest’s unlikely rise, as they recently enjoyed their best winning streak (six games) since 1967 and are currently third, and his own scoring deeds, Wood has become one of the most talked-about strikers in England. That’s quite a change, given he was often under the radar at Burnley and struggled for minutes at Newcastle.
But despite the increased focus – and the amount of analysis and time that opponents are devoting to stopping him – Wood keeps on delivering.
The winner against Ipswich, the winner against Manchester United. Opening the scoring at Everton – with a delightful chipped finish – then setting up the second to silence Goodison Park. A goal against Wolves last week.
Maybe the best came last Tuesday – in a top-of-the-table clash with Liverpool, watched by millions around the globe, with the superb finish to open the scoring, beating one of the world’s best goalkeepers with a precise left-footed shot.
Nottingham Forest's Chris Wood celebrates scoring the opening goal against Liverpool. Photo / Getty Images
This just doesn’t happen. Not with New Zealand footballers. Not with footballers from many countries, even big ones.
No Brazilian has scored more Premier League goals than Wood. Neither has a German or an Italian, while only one Spaniard, Fernando Torres, has topped his current total.
But Wood has been upsetting the odds for years. The most amazing thing about Wood is not what he is doing now but his remarkable persistence and perseverance to get there. Through the loan spells – at six different clubs – including a particularly unhappy time at Barnsley.
Through finally getting a Premier League opportunity at Leicester – scoring on the opening day of the 2014/15 season – then only making another six appearances, for a total of 95 minutes. Through the difficult beginning at Leeds, where he was booed by a section of the club’s fickle fan base.
From the day he entered the academy at West Bromwich Albion as a teenager, Wood had to wait almost 10 years for a regular Premier League opportunity.
There were plenty of times he could have given up, lost his confidence and belief or plumped for an easier option in another country. Or he could have dropped his standards, fallen off the conveyor belt and been overtaken by the pack, the thousands of footballers trying to make it in England every year.
There were difficult times – many of them – but Wood has never stopped trying to improve, to learn, to work harder and to shine.
Now he – and Forest – are reaping spectacular rewards. Long may it continue.
