Editing Menace (New Zealand Paintball Team)

'''Menace''' is a tournament [[paintball]] team originating in Auckland, New Zealand, with later involvement in Western Australia. The team is documented in New Zealand competition from 2002 and subsequently competed in the professional division of the [[Australian Super 7s]], finishing second in the inaugural 2006 championship before winning the professional series titles in 2007 and 2009.[1][2]

Menace was formed by former Marksmen players. Shared names and player associations involving Phantom, Phantom Menace and Menace Blue do not make those teams alternative names for Menace.

[[Matt Storey]] captained Menace during its New Zealand period and subsequently continued his involvement after moving to Perth, Western Australia.[2][3]

== History ==

=== Origins and identity ===

Menace developed within Auckland's tournament paintball community from players formerly associated with Marksmen. The available sources do not establish a precise formation date or complete founding roster.

Matt Storey and Gavin Harrison are associated with the team's early history and with Marksmen. Historical recollections also associate both players with Phantom Menace. This overlap should not be presented as proof that Menace was a renamed Phantom or Phantom Menace team.

Gavin Harrison was involved with Marksmen Limited and Red Alert Paintball Games Limited.[4] Harrison was also associated with A Paintball Adventure, an indoor venue in Papakura documented by the WARPIG field directory in 2005.[5]

=== 2002 New Zealand competition ===

The earliest recovered Menace results are from three-player events in January and February 2002.

At The Gathering at Actions Paintball in Swanson on 26 January, the source listed the team as '''Menace (Rotorua)'''. Menace scored seven points in a ten-team competition using a three-point centre-flag scoring system.[6]

The following day, Menace competed at the Combat Zone three-player tournament in Ardmore, Papakura. The results again used the label '''Menace (Rotorua)''' and recorded the team eighth with 190 points.[7]

At the Hawke's Bay Triples at Stoney Creek Ranch, Hastings, on 2–3 February, the results used plain '''Menace'''. The team finished eleventh in the preliminary standings with 770 points and did not advance to the final.[8]

The Rotorua qualifier is retained because it appears in the original January reports. Menace was principally associated with Auckland, and the surviving sources do not identify the Rotorua players or establish that the team was based permanently in Rotorua.

=== 2004–2005 New Zealand competition ===

Menace appeared in the seeded draw for the 2004 Wellington Easter tournament. The recovered source is a draw rather than a result sheet and does not by itself establish the team's final participation or placing.[9]

A participant and organiser account of the 2005 national ranking series placed Menace third at the Easter event with 43 ranking points. It also placed Menace third in the reported season table, behind Saints and Hybrid.[10]

The ranking account was posted retrospectively during a dispute and is not an independently authenticated official standings sheet. Its figures are therefore attributed rather than presented as uncontested official results.[10]

Menace Blue was discussed as a separate entry in 2005 tournament planning. Menace Blue was associated with Phantom Menace and is not treated as a secondary Menace squad in this article. Planning and payment discussions are also not proof that every proposed entry competed.[11]

=== 2006 Australian Super 7s ===

Menace entered the professional division of the inaugural Australian Super 7s series in 2006. The team finished second behind Sydney SWAT at the opening round and won Round 2.[2]

''Australian Paintball Magazine'' described the Round 2 result as the first win by a New Zealand team at a major Australian tournament.[2]

Menace finished second at Round 3, leaving it level with Sydney SWAT on championship points entering the final round at Paintball Pete's field at Mount White, New South Wales. Captained by Matt Storey, Menace reached the professional final but was defeated by Sydney SWAT and finished second in the championship.[2]

=== 2007 season ===

Menace won the 2007 Australian Super 7s professional series championship with 184 ranking points, two ahead of Sydney SWAT. The team won the opening round and recorded second, third and third at the remaining events.[1]

Menace also won the New Zealand National Championships at Actions Paintball in Swanson on 20–21 October 2007. It led the preliminary stage, defeated Intense 3–0 in the semifinal and defeated Muppets Inc 3–0 in the final.[12]

The participant report recorded the leading order as Menace, Muppets Inc, Fusion and Intense. A subsequent post called the runner-up KillaMuppets; the naming variation does not affect Menace's championship result.[12]

=== 2009 championship ===

Menace won its second Australian Super 7s professional series championship in 2009. It accumulated 144 ranking points across three rounds, winning the first and third events and finishing third at Round 2.[1][13]

At Round 2, Menace finished behind Extreme and STK and ahead of Hostile Intentions, earning 44 championship ranking points.[1][13]

A ''Waikato Times'' report published on 30 January 2009 identified Matt Storey as Menace's captain while covering a New Zealand visit by American professional players Brandon Short and Alex Savino.[3]

The 2009 Super 7s records separately list '''Menace Kids''' in the semi-professional division. Menace Kids won Round 2, but the available sources do not establish its exact organisational or roster relationship with the professional team.[1][13]

=== 2010 New Zealand and Western Australian entries ===

The 2010 Australian Super 7s professional rankings recorded '''Menace NZ''' and '''Menace WA''' separately.[1]

Menace NZ competed in Rounds 2, 3 and 4 and accumulated 82 championship points. Menace WA competed in Round 2 and received 24 points after a two-point ranking penalty associated with fielding a second imported player.[1]

The separate entries demonstrate that New Zealand and Western Australian Menace squads competed during the same season. They do not establish identical rosters or management structures.[1]

Menace NZ also competed at the Australian Super 7s Masters in November 2010. Historical photographs identify New Zealand player Matt Wong, known as Stick, and American professional player Ryan Greenspan as a guest player.[14][15]

The official rankings record Menace NZ earning 26 points at Round 4, but the available sources do not establish the team's complete Masters roster or final event placing.[1]

=== Later Western Australian competition ===

Matt Storey subsequently moved to Perth, Western Australia, where he continued his involvement with Menace. The name remained in Australian tournament use during the 2010s.[1]

Menace appeared in the professional division of the 2017 Australian Super 7s, competing in Round 4 and receiving 16 championship points.[1]

Under the name '''WA Menace''', the team entered all four rounds of the 2018 Australian Super 7s professional championship and finished eighth overall with 64 ranking points.[1]

== Related names and teams ==

'''Menace''' was distinct from [[Phantom (New Zealand Paintball Team)|Phantom]] and Phantom Menace. Menace was formed by former Marksmen players, although some individuals were also associated with Phantom Menace.

'''Menace Blue''' was an entry associated with Phantom Menace rather than a documented Menace squad. A 2004 Hawke's Bay Triples report uses Menace Blue in its narrative but identifies Phantom Blue in its formal results table. The discrepancy is preserved in the relevant team and tournament histories rather than being used to merge the names.[16]

'''Menace Kids''', '''Menace NZ''', '''Menace WA''' and '''WA Menace''' are retained as organiser-published squad names. Their use does not establish unchanged rosters across seasons.[1][13]

== Documented players ==

{| class="wikitable"
! Player
! Documented association
|-
| [[Matt Storey]]
| Menace captain during its New Zealand period; later continued with the team in Western Australia.[2][3]
|-
| Gavin Harrison
| Associated with the early Menace group and formerly associated with Marksmen; also historically linked with Phantom Menace.[4]
|-
| Matt Wong
| Menace NZ player at the 2010 Australian Super 7s Masters.[14][15]
|-
| [[Ryan Greenspan]]
| Guest player for Menace NZ at the 2010 Australian Super 7s Masters.[14][15]
|}

The available evidence does not establish a complete founding roster or a single roster covering every New Zealand and Australian season.

== Recorded tournament results ==

{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Year
! Competition
! Entry
! Recorded result
|-
| 2002
| The Gathering, Swanson
| Menace (Rotorua)
| 7 points.[6]
|-
| 2002
| Combat Zone Three-Player Tournament
| Menace (Rotorua)
| 8th; 190 points.[7]
|-
| 2002
| Hawke's Bay Triples
| Menace
| 11th in the preliminary standings; 770 points.[8]
|-
| 2005
| New Zealand ranking series
| Menace
| 3rd at Easter and in the attributed season table; 43 ranking points.[10]
|-
| 2006
| Australian Super 7s Professional
| Menace
| 2nd overall; Round 2 winner.[2]
|-
| 2007
| Australian Super 7s Professional
| Menace
| 1st overall; 184 ranking points.[1]
|-
| 2007
| New Zealand National Championships
| Menace
| 1st; defeated Muppets Inc 3–0 in the final.[12]
|-
| 2009
| Australian Super 7s Professional
| Menace
| 1st overall; 144 ranking points.[1]
|-
| 2010
| Australian Super 7s Professional
| Menace NZ
| 82 season points.[1]
|-
| 2010
| Australian Super 7s Professional
| Menace WA
| 24 season points.[1]
|-
| 2017
| Australian Super 7s Professional
| Menace
| 16 season points.[1]
|-
| 2018
| Australian Super 7s Professional
| WA Menace
| 8th overall; 64 points.[1]
|}

The table retains the entry names recorded by organisers. Its scoring figures come from different competitions and are not directly comparable.

== See also ==

* [[Phantom (New Zealand Paintball Team)]]
* [[Australian Super 7s]]
* [[Matt Storey]]
* [[Ryan Greenspan]]
* [[Paintball in New Zealand]]
* [[Paintball in Australia]]

== References ==

# [https://super7spaintball.com/results/ Super 7s Paintball Series, ''Results''. Official historical professional division rankings for 2007, 2009, 2010, 2017 and 2018.]
# ''Australian Paintball Magazine'', no. 6, 2006, “AXL Round 4: Direct from Paintball Pete's Mt. White”, pp. 18–25.
# [https://www.stuff.co.nz/waikato-times/news/11478/Top-guns-warm-up-to-paint-the-town-red ''Waikato Times'', “Top guns warm up to paint the town red”, 30 January 2009.]
# [https://www.companyhub.nz/dirshrSearch.cfm?name=HARRISON%2C+John&page=4 Company Hub, New Zealand company records identifying Gavin John Harrison's involvement with Marksmen Limited and Red Alert Paintball Games Limited.]
# [https://www.warpig.com/forums/fields/index/pg_Other.shtml WARPIG Paintball Field Directory, “A Paintball Adventure”, Papakura, listing dated 4 August 2005.]
# [https://web.archive.org/web/20020606121211/http://www.paintball.co.nz/gatheringa2k.htm Dazz Marshall, ''The Gathering'', Paintball.co.nz, 26 January 2002.]
# [https://web.archive.org/web/20020606114058/http://www.paintball.co.nz/cbtz.htm Dazz Marshall, ''Combat Zone 3-Man'', Paintball.co.nz, 27 January 2002.]
# [https://web.archive.org/web/20021025162718/http://www.paintball.co.nz/hb3man2002.htm Dazz Marshall, ''Hawkes Bay 3-Man 2002'', Paintball.co.nz, 2–3 February 2002.]
# [https://web.archive.org/web/20060117132820/http://p069.ezboard.com:80/fnzpaintballfrm30.showPrevMessage?topicID=38.topic Rob Blitz, ''draw for easter'', NZ Paintball forum, 5 April 2004.]
# [https://web.archive.org/web/20061014073853/http://www.paintball.org.nz/community/showthread.php?t=532 Dannefaerd, ''rankings'', New Zealand paintball forum, 1 May 2006. Attributed account of the 2005 series.]
# [https://web.archive.org/web/20060117200250/http://p069.ezboard.com:80/fnzpaintballfrm30.showMessageRange?topicID=59.topic&start=1&stop=20 ''Crunch Time'', NZ Paintball forum, February 2005.]
# [https://web.archive.org/web/20081018194641/http://www.paintball.net.nz/archive/index.php/t-574.html ''National Champs Labour Weekend 2007'', NZ P8NT, December 2006–October 2007.]
# [https://web.archive.org/web/20130218043832/http://paintball.net.nz/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=2386&view=print NZ P8NT, ''2009 Super 7s Round 2 results'', 4 August 2009.]
# [https://www.flickr.com/photos/spinner/albums/72157625396799886/ Matt Wong, ''Paintball — 2010 S7 Masters'', Flickr.]
# [https://www.flickr.com/photos/spinner/5180050249/ Matt Wong, “zDSC_7648”, Flickr, uploaded 16 November 2010.]
# [https://web.archive.org/web/20051218194442/http://www.paintball.co.nz/articles/2004/hb2004.htm Peter Mumby, ''The Hawkes Bay Triples 2004'', Paintball.co.nz, February 2004.]

== External links ==

* [https://super7spaintball.com/results/ Australian Super 7s historical results]
* [https://www.flickr.com/photos/spinner/albums/72157625396799886/ Menace at the 2010 Australian Super 7s Masters]

[[Category:New Zealand paintball teams]]
[[Category:Australian paintball teams]]
[[Category:Paintball in Auckland]]