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 tournament records from 2004 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 is documented as Menace's captain by 2006.[2] The available published sources do not establish that Menace was a renamed Phantom or Phantom Menace team.

2004–2005 New Zealand competition

The earliest recovered record of the post-Marksmen Menace team is its appearance 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.[4]

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.[5]

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.[5]

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.[6]

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.[7]

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.[7]

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][8]

At Round 2, Menace finished behind Extreme and STK and ahead of Hostile Intentions, earning 44 championship ranking points.[1][8]

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]

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.[9][10]

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 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 rather than being used to merge the names.[11]

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][8]

Documented players

Player	Documented association
Matt Storey	Menace captain during its New Zealand period; later continued with the team in Western Australia.[2][3]
Matt Wong	Menace NZ player at the 2010 Australian Super 7s Masters.[9][10]
Ryan Greenspan	Guest player for Menace NZ at the 2010 Australian Super 7s Masters.[9][10]

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

Recorded tournament results

Year	Competition	Entry	Recorded result
2005	New Zealand ranking series	Menace	3rd at Easter and in the attributed season table; 43 ranking points.[5]
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.[7]
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.

References

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.
Waikato Times, “Top guns warm up to paint the town red”, 30 January 2009.
Rob Blitz, draw for easter, NZ Paintball forum, 5 April 2004.
Dannefaerd, rankings, New Zealand paintball forum, 1 May 2006. Attributed account of the 2005 series.
Crunch Time, NZ Paintball forum, February 2005.
National Champs Labour Weekend 2007, NZ P8NT, December 2006–October 2007.
NZ P8NT, 2009 Super 7s Round 2 results, 4 August 2009.
Matt Wong, Paintball — 2010 S7 Masters, Flickr.
Matt Wong, “zDSC_7648”, Flickr, uploaded 16 November 2010.
Peter Mumby, The Hawkes Bay Triples 2004, Paintball.co.nz, February 2004.

External links